Release date: August 4, 2017
Genres: Historical Drama
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Writer: Mark Boal
Starring: Will Poulter, Algee Smith,
John Boyega
Detroit isn’t about about the city so much as it is about the Algiers Motel Incident of 1967. When cops hear shots fired from a local motel, they storm it and round up everyone inside, thinking one of them is a sniper. They then proceed to brutally terrorize the residents who consist of twelve black men and two white women. Two of these black men are members of the band The Dramatics and serve as the main characters of the movie.
The movie only takes about ten minutes to set up the context for why the cops are so racist and abusive and why the riots in Detroit are even taking place - it just throws you into the Algiers Motel and lets you witness these events for almost an hour and a half straight. Seriously, it feels like these events are taking place in real time. You feel trapped in this terrible situation in which you’re just at the mercy of these cops; I was genuinely terrified even though I didn’t have much time to get attached to the characters before they were thrown into this incident.
That’s probably where some of this movie’s problems lie: in the beginning. First, with the exception of Larry Reed (Algee Smith), the lead singer from The Dramatics, who is prominently featured in the film, the characters aren’t very well developed at all, even though they have interesting roles. Dismukes (John Boyega), is a black security guard who witnessed these events, is another character in the film who should have been more properly explored. When the third act features the aftermath of this incident and the characters finally reflect on their experiences, Dismukes is given just one scene where he says almost nothing, even though I think he would have the most to say. He was there and just let it happen for the most part, thinking he was powerless to intervene. How does that make him feel? We’ll never get to know, because the movie doesn’t explore that. The performance is all I get and, though John Boyega is great in this restrained role, his character is ultimately a lot flatter than I would have liked.
Speaking of the performances, there are two clear standouts. The first is from Will Poulter, who plays the leader of the cops who terrorize the motel residents during the incident. The film really gets into his mind and you completely understand how he’s thinking the entire time, which contributes to the terror when you realize just how messed up he is. The second great performance comes from Algee Smith as Larry Reed. He gets to play the one character who really gets an arc in this movie. You really get to see how he’s affected by the events, especially during one scene in the movie right after the motel event where he runs into a cop - his reaction is heartbreaking and feels really authentic, a credit to his great performance.
But as good as this movie is during the Algiers Motel Incident scenes, it doesn’t really offer much context. As I said earlier, it only takes about ten minutes to set up the central event and most of that time is dedicated to setting up the characters, not the riots themselves which serve as the greater context. If you don’t know your history, you’ll be confused about why there were riots at all as there really isn’t much said about it. I know the movie is almost two and a half hours long already, but it could have definitely spent five extra minutes to fill in the gaps in history that I felt were present.
Ultimately, Detroit doesn’t have all that much to say - it simply presents its story and leaves the impact on the viewer without properly contextualizing the events and tying them into something broader. The events are horrifying and effective, the performances are great, and the movie is engaging all the way through, but I feel like this was a bit of a missed opportunity to really make an impactful film that tells a full story, instead of just a small part of one.