Gripping and horrifying, Detroit is a horror film dressed up as a thriller

Rating: 8/10 (25 August 2017)

As a child, you are told that the police are there to protect you. If ever you should find yourself in a sticky situation, calling the police is the safest option as there is always an obvious line between the good guys and the bad guys. Upon closer examination however, this isn't as true as one might hope. As part of the civil rights movement, blacks demanded justice in reaction to incidences of police brutality targeted upon members of their race. Many whites turned a blind eye as experience told them that only the guilty fear the police or are arrested. When police brutality began spilling into the public eye and into the suburbs- their suburbs- deniers were finally exposed to the reality of police brutality.
In the fifty years since the 12th Street riot and in light of events in recent years, the viewpoint that police are not to be trusted has not disappeared. Riots in response to police brutality still happen. Innocents are still slaughtered by prejudiced and violent psychopaths in police uniforms. Helpless and frightened, victims in Detroit are just a few of the many that police have lashed out against without provocation. When it comes to a bad cop, they will opt to "protect and serve" themselves first no matter how innocent those they interact with may be. Over the course of a near two and a half hours, Detroit brilliantly depicts this as black men and white women are violently tortured by white and black cops alike, all the while other officers extend a helping hand in the midst of the darkness. It is a surprisingly balanced and reasonable approach to such a hotly contested issue, yet it never shies away from showing the truth in every bloody detail.
Read more: https://cineccentric.com/2017/08/19/detroit/