A fond fictionalization of Barack Obama and Michelle Robinson’s first date in 1989, “Southside With You” is a pleasingly low-key effort pitched at fans of the first couple.

Barack (Parker Sawyers), a confident summer associate at the Chicago law firm where Michelle (Tika Sumpter) works, takes her for a stroll, to see the movie “Do the Right Thing” and for a chocolaty kiss after a visit to an ice-cream shop.

The portrait of the future president is engaging (bordering on hagiographic), building to a superb (fictionalized) scene in which Obama switches to oratory to impress Michelle. Speaking to an angry church group, he inspires them while defusing tensions over the delay of a community center. The mollifying figure on display here bears little resemblance to the hyperpartisan president Obama turned out to be, but it’s sweet to remember things could have been different.