A gruelling, nightmarish, ferociously vivid riot epic that recreates one of the darkest chapters in American history. Unflinching, unmissable and terrifyingly pertinent.
This is a sombre, grieving movie which appears to gesture to the ghost-town ruin that is still in Detroit’s future. It may not quite have the single compelling lead performance that some might have wanted from it, but it has relevance and passion, and by finding the story’s heart in the music of the Dramatics, Bigelow creates a humanity amid the anguish.
Dunkirk has a rival in the intensity stakes. Expect Bigelow’s deep-cutting drama to be part of the conversation come awards season.
In its own polemical way, it is very powerful filmmaking but, as storytelling, it is one-dimensional. There is too much “docu” here and not enough drama.
Blistering, unapologetically violent drama from Kathryn Bigelow which recreates the Algiers Motel murders.
Fascinating but deeply flawed.
Detroit tells such a powerful, visceral tale that it demands to be seen and discussed.
Kathryn Bigelow directs John Boyega in a stunningly shot story of disturbing police brutality and civil unrest in 1960s Detroit.
Bigelow’s dramatisation of this is unbearably intense and tough to take; but it’s precisely the dogged nature of the portrayal that makes the film such a powerful indictment of institutionalised racism, both then and now.
Detroit, Charlottesville and filming the American race war.
General release. Check local listings for show times.