Spike Lee's return to form

Rating: 8/10 (4 September 2018)

Easily Spike Lee's best joint since "25th Hour", this is the true story of how a black police officer in Colorado in the 1970s stood up to the Ku Klux Klan's presence through an undercover operation. In this film, Spike Lee has gone back to his old school rage that permeates the social fabric of America in the present day. It's a thoroughly relevant drama and an affirmation of American identity, one that burns with righteous anger but also has moments of incendiary humor aimed at the racism being depicted.
Performances here are first rate. John David Washington is the title protagonist, a bold black police officer in an overwhelmingly white community who dares to use his investigative ability to counter white supremacists in his own backyard, an idea he embraces after being sent on an undercover assignment to keep an eye on the black panther movement where he finds much agreement and closeness with those he encounters. Topher Grace shakes off his polished preppy boy image for the menacing role of David Duke, the grand wizard of the KKK. Adam Driver is solid as the undercover Jewish police officer who enters the KKK as the white front for the undercover operation. Although the film concludes less dramatically than I was expecting, it still packs a wallop in terms of bringing very relevant issues of white supremacy to the forefront.
This is also a cautionary tale about how resilient white supremacy has been over the course of the nation's history right up to the present day. It's a warning that the same scourge that plagued American society in the era when this film took place is still festering in full force today. A challenging message like that is worth conveying, which this film does eloquently. Strongly recommended.