Review of Detroit (2017) by Ethan L — 23 Aug 2017

Oh wait, this is before the turn of the century. Set in year 1967, this is about the city of Detroit, Michigan, as the title suggests. It is a time of much turmoil and civil unrest, as the racial tensions between the African-American community and local law enforcement are peaking.

This leads to rioting and an incident at the Algiers Motel, where the infamous police brutality comes to a head. Now I will say that I was looking forward to this, but I had no idea just what I was walking into, as I had next to no background on this event.

This truly is dramatic intensity dialed up to eleven, which is excellent, but if you watch this expecting anything less, you should prepare to be sucker punched, because it truly is that flooring. Now this is directed by Kathryn Bigelow, a director I tend to appreciate more than I love.

I think the majority of her films are well made, but I feel that they are impersonal, like The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty. I love Detroit miles more than those movies, and I think that this is nothing short of incredible.

Right from the beginning, you can tell how intense this has the potential to be, and it is right there in your face, making it impossible to look away. It is pretty shameful how little race relations have progressed in the last five decades, and that is where Detroit succeeds in spades: how relevant this is fifty years later.

Think of this disturbing question: how many reports of police brutality against African-Americans have you forgotten the past five years? This isn't even to mention the horrific ones that are burned into your memory like Michael Brown.

It's to the point where it is no longer surprising to hear a story like that on the news, and that is precisely why this movie is so important. The only mild critique of this that I have is that it is truly an ensemble piece, and it takes a short while before you see how all of the pieces are going to fit together.

That really is my only nitpick, but regardless, you have to be prepared for how stressful and upsetting this is, and I don't think there is a movie all year that left me shaking in a cold sweat more than this one here, if not this decade.

I forgot to breathe in parts, it really is that intense. Something bad can happen at any second, and because of that, you are always invested and never tempted to break away and look at your phone, even at a robust 140 minutes.

The motel scene has the strange quality in that it turns into a time warp; I don't remember entering or exiting this motel, I just know how helpless I felt while I was there, and how I thought the physical and psychological horrors would never end.

Detroit is almost assuredly the most important movie you can see this year, and I cannot recommend it enough.