Color Book

Daniels, an actor skilled at delivering hushed poignancy, shares a sincere rapport with Catlett, who furthers the film’s organic tenor with weary eyes that plead for one’s time and grace. His and Daniels’s steady work makes Color Book deserving of both.

What this spare drama truly offers is a new category. Call it “deep fidelity,” in which the filmmaker captures without flash or pretense the material, emotional and even spiritual lives of his protagonists. Charles Burnett’s classic “Killer of Sheep,” or far more recently Garrett Bradley’s documentary “Time,” come to mind as analogues.