Review of Detroit (2017) by Jon C — 05 Dec 2017

Taking place during the race riots of Detroit in 1967 the division between whites and blacks was still very big, it would be a long while for things to change.

Kathyrn Bigelow has the task of telling one of the hardest chapters of American history.

The movie captures the harsh, brutal, and violent nature of racial tension despite the narrative going in so many directions and an overlong running time.

The riots themselves are mentioned but not entirely focused on as a majority of the movie takes place at the Algier Motel; 3 corrupt police officers abuse their power and harass several blacks along with two white women.

Given how much violence and fear and suspicion was present at the time the National Guard takes every measure to protect themselves regardless of how innocent everyone seems.

John Boyega plays a security guard knowing the real story of what happened and Will Poulter plays the corrupt officer leading the raid; both have very different views of how the situation should be handled, plus the justice system here was hardly fair.

This is truly not an easy film to sit through but it amazingly emcompasses some similar stuff going on with today's tensions between citizens, a constant reminder that we still have a long way to go to stop the destructiveness among ourselves.