8/10

History is pretty rough.

No matter what it is, Kathryn Bigelow always brings something tense to the table. This film is incredibly tense and maybe the most tense I’ve been watching a film from this year so far.

It’s also incredibly frustrating throughout.

The whole Algiers Motel situation is a mistake. The situation could have taken so many different turns but we are stuck with the history of what actually happened there. The whole situation, which is the crux of the film, is executed perfectly. Bigelow’s handheld directing, the performances and mostly lack of music throughout makes it memorable. The sound in this is also great and makes for a pretty unforgettable sequence of events. Will Poulter is Oscar levels of evil in this. His performance is perfect and effective. I was disappointed that John Boyega didn’t have as much of a role as the trailers were implying. However with what he was given, he did great.

The film is over two hours long and you really feel that length towards the end. This film is definitely split into three distinguishable acts: The Riots, The Incident, and The Aftermath. The first act is so distant from the second two acts however. The main focus should have been the Algiers Motel but I felt that the film may have lost focus a couple times. The whole second act is great and self contained and scary and a tense story being told. The riots and the fact that this film was titled DETROIT, I don’t think was necessarily needed. The film wanted to tell this grand epic tale but I felt that it was at its best when on a smaller much more personal scale. Also the aftermath, honestly dragged.

All the tension is just about gone and you finally breathe but it lets you breathe for too long. So see this movie. I still say it’s great because it’s highs are incredibly high and it’s lows I’d say are mild. Just needed to be trimmed and have more focus