[American Fiction] portrays writer Thelonious "Monk" Ellison (Jeffrey Wright), who has lost his career and reached a dead end because his novels are not "black." In a fit of anger, he writes an over-the-top parody of "black" fiction that becomes an overnight sensation.

Cord Jefferson's Academy Award-winning film is now streaming on MGM Plus in the US and Prime Video in the rest of the world. If you're traveling abroad, here's how to watch "American Fiction" online, from anywhere, using a VPN.

In a scene approaching the midpoint of "American Fiction," Monk chuckles at a trailer for "Black Stories Month," in which a television station showcases the diversity of the "black experience." The video montage features gang violence, slavery, teenage pregnancy, police brutality, and crack smoking.

"American Fiction" skewers the hypocrisy that pervades the intellectual community, using the publishing industry as its main point of departure. There is indeed a thirst for black stories, but only a very specific one. As his agent Arthur (John Ortiz) says, what does Monk's reworking of Eshlus' "The Persians" or Aristophanes' "The Frog" have to do with the African American experience?

It is a self-perpetuating cycle that stifles all other points of view, and Monk counters with a novel that is so boneheaded and clichéd that it cannot possibly be taken seriously. But one should not underestimate the lengths to which gatekeepers will go to gain immunity.

Based on Percival Everett's novel Erasure, American Fiction is one of the 2024 Academy Award winners currently streaming. The trailer is also embedded at the bottom of this page.

"American Fiction" is an MGM Plus exclusive in the United States.

If you do not have cable, the online streaming service MGM Plus costs $6.99 per month or $58.99 per year, but new subscribers can get a 7-day free trial.

This streaming service is also available on several live TV streaming services, either bundled with a monthly plan or as an add-on service for an additional fee.

Amazon Channels, for example, is available to anyone with an Amazon Prime subscription (Amazon Prime monthly fee is $14.99 and MGM Plus monthly fee is $6.99, after a free trial of both services) MGM Plus can also be accessed through Sling TV, Fubo, YouTube TV, Philo, and DirecTV Stream.

Of these options, Philo and Sling are the standout cheap options. Sling TV, in particular, rates as the best streaming service and one of the best cable TV alternatives.

Both services are available on most, if not all, of the best streaming devices.

Are you currently away from home and blocked from watching "American Fiction" on MGM Plus, Sling, or Prime Video?

Thanks to a VPN (Virtual Private Network), you can watch this sharp comedy online; a VPN is software that allows your device to appear as if you are in your home country, no matter where you are in the world. This makes it ideal for viewers who are currently traveling outside their home country. Our favorite is NordVPN. Best on the market:

In the UK, Canada, Australia, and other countries, you can watch "American Fiction" on Prime Video right now.

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