Tia Nomore

In the close-ups of Gia in Earth Mama (2023), Tia Nomore lets distress remain difficult to put into words. She shows the effort of trying to give a clear answer when the feeling itself is still uncertain. We were moved by those close-ups because the hesitation felt familiar, without making Gia’s circumstances seem simple. It is a strong lead performance that earns concern for a woman without asking us to approve of everything she does.

Nomore came to acting from performing as a rapper, and Earth Mama was her feature debut. Her restraint feels considered, and it would be a mistake to praise it only as a newcomer’s ability to appear at ease. Her subsequent credits include Mary in Jamal Trulove’s short I Thought You’d Never Ask (2025) and Tia in Adam Leao’s San Francisco Rising (2026). For us, Earth Mama remains the substantial evidence on which to judge her.

Writer-director Savanah Leaf gives Nomore time to make Gia’s uncertainty felt, rather than arranging every scene as a lesson about foster care. George Cragg’s editing protects that time, while Kelsey Lu’s gentle music leaves Nomore to carry the difficult feelings. This helps us attend to small changes in her face, but there are passages when the collective restraint becomes distancing. Nomore usually gives us a reason to keep looking; not every long pause brings us closer.

The reservation is with the film more than with its lead: its insistence on maternal instinct sometimes narrows its sympathy. Nomore’s performance is more persuasive when it allows Gia to be unsure, without making that uncertainty something to be tidied away. We would be wary of treating this one lead performance as a fixed account of what she can do. Start with Earth Mama, and give its small changes of expression your full attention.