CHICAGO — The story of a South Shore bakery owner reuniting with her long-lost son — which captured the hearts of Chicagoans and the nation back in 2024 — will be the focus of a new Netflix movie premiering in December, the company announced Thursday.

Lenore Lindsey, the owner of Give Me Some Sugah at 2234 E. 71st St., didn’t realize that the customer who began frequenting her shop in 2010 was actually the son she had placed for adoption as a teenager. All she knew then was that he had a sweet tooth.

Over the years, Vamarr Hunter’s visits to the bakery dwindled. That is until winter 2022, when genetic testing revealed that his favorite baker was actually his mother.

“Disbelief,” Hunter previously told the Tribune when asked how he felt upon learning his mother’s identity. “You mean my mother is this outstanding figure in the community, owning a business?” Lindsey, for her part, said that their “spirits just kind of connected.”

The bakery, perhaps best known for its potato chip cookie, eventually became a family enterprise. At first, Hunter helped keep the business open while Lindsey, now 69, underwent breast cancer treatment. In 2024, he took over full-time.

The movie, aptly named “Give Me Some Sugah,” will follow Lindsey’s “incredible discovery that inspires her to reclaim lost time, heal old wounds and find purpose in life’s unexpected miracles,” according to a news release. It will be released Dec. 16 on Netflix.

DeVon Franklin, one of the film’s producers alongside Tyler Perry, told the Tribune last December that they had shot a few scenes in Chicago that winter, including “one of the most pivotal scenes.” They filmed in Millennium Park and in South Shore, he said.

However, Franklin said the bulk of the movie was filmed in Atlanta due to production costs.

“We wanted to make sure we came to Chicago because we want to authenticate,” said Franklin, also an actor in the movie. “This is a Chicago story; it’s a true story. It came out of the South Shore area of Chicago, and so we just didn’t want to make a movie about Chicago and not come to Chicago.”

A Tribune reporter watched the crew film outside the Mosque Maryam in South Shore, including a cameo with Lindsey and Hunter. They then moved to a different location in South Shore and filmed Taraji P. Henson, who plays Lindsey.

“The world is gonna see your story,” Henson said while hugging Lindsey on set, the Tribune observed.

Henson told People Magazine on Thursday that “What moved me most was Lenore’s resilience and tenacity.” She said Lindsey “kept choosing faith, even when she didn’t know where it would lead her.”

“She had a door slammed in her face professionally, and instead of letting that be the end of her story, she found the courage to go after a dream she had buried for 30 years,” Henson said. “That takes something.”

Lindsey said she was “humbled and amazed, humbled that a small life from the South Side of Chicago would garner such interest,” according to People. The movie is directed by Tasha Smith and also stars Joey Bada$$, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor and Russell Hornsby, among others.

Hunter also told the Tribune last winter that he’s struggling to grasp that his story is being made into a movie. He said it simply makes people “feel good.” Hunter couldn’t immediately be reached for comment Thursday.

“They’re getting happy off our good fortune and our blessings and it feels good to be the reason that people are feeling good,” he said.

Franklin, likewise, said that’s what drew him to the story. He was brought to tears when he learned the details and thought he could do the same for others.

“I’ve done a lot of true stories, and for me, it’s a movie; for them, it’s their life,” Franklin said. “Anytime I’m having a conversation, I’m doing it with the utmost care, the utmost consideration.”

Hunter said several people reached out about a film, but having Tyler Perry’s name attached made the decision a no-brainer.

“Tyler Perry is the epitome of Black movies,” Hunter said. “There is nobody bigger in our realm, so at the end of the day, we already felt like that was a good combination with DeVon Franklin and Tyler Perry.”

He added that if one person’s day can be brightened by his and his mother’s story, “that’s the best thing I could hope for in life.”

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