YOUNGBLOOD
(director/writer: Hubert Davis; screenwriters: Charles Officer, Josh Epstein, Kyle Rideout, Senecca Aaron; cinematographer: Stuart James Cameron; editor: Matt Lyon; music: Todor Kobakov; cast: Ashton James (Dean Youngblood), Blair Underwood (Blane Younglood), Alexandra McDonald (Jessie), Ojunike Adelly (Ruby, mom), Shawn Doyle (Coach Murray Chadwick), Henri-Richer Picard (Denis Sutton, team captain), Emidio Lopes (Kelly Youngblood), Donald MacLean Jr. (Carl Racki), Tamara Podemski (Mrs. McGill); Runtime: 105; MPAA Rating: PG-13; producers: Anthony Leo, Andrew Rosen; Well Go USA; 2025-Canada)
“The emotional hockey drama is played as a character study.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
Hubert Davis (“The Well”/”Black Ice”) directs this Canadian made loose remake of Youngblood, the 1986 film starring Rob Lowe that was a commercial bust but received some good reviews. The emotional hockey drama is played as a character study, that covers racial issues in a sport with only a few Blacks and toxic issues on the ice. It’s co-written by Davis, Charles Officer (former hockey player), Josh Epstein, Kyle Rideout, and Senecca Aaron.
Dean Younglood (Ashton James) is a promising American teenage Black hockey player from Detroit, whose caring mother (Ojunike Adelly) died when he was a youngster. His testy former pro hockey player father Blane (Blair Underwood) taught Dean and his older brother (Emidio Lopes), a failed hockey player, to be tough and assertive on the ice and to take no guff from the white players.
The talented Dean suddenly finds himself playing in Ontario, for the Hamilton Mustangs in the American Hockey League, as he’s called-up to the team when it needs a replacement due to an injury, in order to make a run at the play-offs. Dean is hoping this will give him the opportunity to make it to the NHL. He’s a volatile player who looks upon himself as an enforcer, but upsets his old-timer coach Murray Chadwick (Shawn Doyle), who wants him to refine his game and be a more complete player.
Dean begins seeing Jessie (Alexandra McDonald), who is the goalie of a women’s team playing on the same rink and is also the coach’s daughter.
It’s better than the more short-sighted original, becoming more than just a predictable, hard-hitting sports drama. It tries to say something about the toxic hockey culture that’s evolving by giving it some solid footing on the ice.
REVIEWED ON 4/24/2026 GRADE: B-
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