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Detroit (15)

Crime, Drama, History

Amidst the chaos of the Detroit Rebellion, with the city under curfew and as the Michigan National Guard patrolled the streets, three young African American men were murdered at the Algiers Motel.

The critical consensus

A gruelling, nightmarish, ferociously vivid riot epic that recreates one of the darkest chapters in American history. Unflinching, unmissable and terrifyingly pertinent.

****(*)Simon Crook, Empire Online, 26/07/2017

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.

****(*)Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian, 26/07/2017

Dunkirk has a rival in the intensity stakes. Expect Bigelow’s deep-cutting drama to be part of the conversation come awards season.

****(*)Jamie Graham, Total Film, 28/07/2017

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.

***(*)(*)Geoffrey Macnab, The Independent, 23/08/2017

Blistering, unapologetically violent drama from Kathryn Bigelow which recreates the Algiers Motel murders.

****(*)Emma Simmonds, The List, 21/08/2017

Fascinating but deeply flawed.

***(*)(*)David Jenkins, Little White Lies, 22/08/2017

Detroit tells such a powerful, visceral tale that it demands to be seen and discussed.

*****Allan Hunter, Daily Express, 25/08/2017

Kathryn Bigelow directs John Boyega in a stunningly shot story of disturbing police brutality and civil unrest in 1960s Detroit.

****(*)Mark Kermode, The Observer, 27/08/2017

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.

****(*)Alistair Harkness, The Scotsman, 28/08/2017


Features about Detroit (15)

Detroit, Charlottesville and filming the American race war.

Nicholas Laskin, Little White Lies, 19/08/2017

Where and when?

General release. Check local listings for show times.

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