Intensely relentless

Detroit

Starring: John Boyega, Anthony Mackie, Algee Smith, Will Poulter

Director: Kathryn Bigelow

Genre: Period Crime Drama 

Rating: R

RUNTIME: 143 Mins

Detroit, in all its raw, gruelling realism, comes raging out of the starting gate from the first moment. Kathryn Bigelow, director and producer of two masterpieces, Zero Dark Thirty and The Hurt Locker, returns with a vengeance, and this time her sights are set on America’s troubling past.

Detroit is a dramatisation of the Algiers Motel incident that occurred during Detroit’s 1967 12th Street Riot, where several black civilians were held for questioning by members of the local police department. Details of the events that transpired have long been highly controversial, as despite the multiple witness testimonies to the abuses of the Detroit Police officers, none of them were found guilty of any crimes.

This is not a film for the faint-hearted. Leaving the cinema made me notice that I had been clenching my jaw (and probably my fists) for the better part of the story. It is pure, relentless intensity, and Bigelow is once again phenomenal in her ability to take your breath and keep it locked away as you watch.

Even though the movie is based on true events, it’s best to reveal as little as possible about the plot. Screenwriter Mark Boal stays true to the multiple witness testimonies that the script is based on, blending them into a chaotic, yet holistic and horrific picture of what happened that night.

It’s perhaps Boal’s writing and Bigelow’s directorial style that make the film feel almost like a documentary, as it’s shot in a manner that emphasises the contrast of vulnerability and cruelty. In many of the scenes, particularly at the beginning of the film, you can almost hear a low, nervous buzzing noise in the background, as though at any moment Detroit might erupt from the static.

The storylines of all the various characters are somewhat confusing in the beginning, as it’s never entirely clear who the audience is meant to be focusing on or what is directly relevant to the main events at the Algiers Motel.

As much as it’s disorienting, in retrospect it makes for more captivating storytelling. You see all of the victims as ordinary people trying to go about their lives, and instead getting caught up in a tragic series of events.

John Boyega shows us his dramatic chops here, playing the role of Melvin Dismukes, a black security guard who becomes embroiled in the motel incident. Throughout the film, we see him struggle to reconcile the racial tensions between the frustrated young black men in his community and the racist white police force.

Boyega is patient with his character, a calm presence amidst the chaos, yet his intense stare betrays a wealth of emotion as he witnesses abuses against the innocent.

Algee Smith is similarly magnetic as Larry Reed, the heart and soul of the film, although he uses his honeyed voice to win us over. Carefree and charming at the start, he’s concerned only with seeing his name in lights, yet his sweetness leaves him vulnerable in the overwhelming shadow of Detroit.

Will Poulter’s Officer Philip Krauss can best be described as heinous, filled with a vicious and self-righteous hate fire that makes Detroit pulse with fear and desperate rage. Bigelow often uses her work to explore American masculinity, and in no previous film does it scream of the same ignorance and insecurity as here.

Due to the sensitive and unflinching nature of the subject, it is an emotionally draining watch.

There are some issues with pacing that drag the narrative out to almost painful extremes, and although the performances are excellent, there is no single shining star. Depending on how you look at it, this is either a good or bad thing.

By bringing the audience into this dark chapter of America’s history, it’s casting a glaring light on issues of the present. It will leave you with many questions about the role every individual has to play in society, and how we might seek a future where atrocities like this are just a shameful reminder and not brutal reality.

Now showing in: City Centre, Seef II, Dana, Wadi Al Sail

Anna’s verdict: 4/5