Very solid first time effort, but it's very much a first time effort.

Even as a satire, a lot of the character exposition is very expositiony. For example, a lot of what we learn about how same really is is told to her (and the audience) by her white boyfriend. That is a problem.

Also, the story-structure could stand to be tightened up just a little bit. It almost seems as if Simien couldn't decide whether Lionel or Sam was the actual protagonist, and (actually a bit by his own admission) has them do a handoff towards the end of the film. The problem with that is, we end up realizing there's not enough Lionel in the first act and not enough Sam in the third (or rather, he character becomes purposefully inactive). This could probably be fixed some by giving Lionel a little more to do early on and also finding a better way to get into Sam's head when she decides to be "herself" towards the end (maybe adding a bit more to the denouement at the end where she confesses without confessing to the dean)

Troy seemed the least developed character to me. He was a stereotype wanting to be another stereotype.

Overall, however, I REALLY enjoyed the movie. "Rebirth of a Nation" gave me religion. And Tyler james Williams deserves some great credit for one of the best portrayals of a black gay male character in cinema history (achieved simply by playing Lionel as - shock and horror - a human being).