FIRST LOOK
EXCLUSIVEDETROIT
OUT 9 NOVEMBERWORDS PHIL DE SEMLYENA BRUISING DRAMA set around 1967’s
Algiers Motel incident, in which the police’s
brutal response to reports of a shooting fed
into the city’s bloody riots and led to a famous
injustice, Detroit boasts a director making up for
lost time. Five years on from Zero Dark Thirty,
Kathryn Bigelow has delivered an urgent, timely
comment on American policing and race
relations inspired by more recent civil unrest.
“I came across this story as I witnessed the
aftermath of Ferguson and the fallout that
spread across the country,” she tells Empire.
“[This film] illustrated my frustration with
what I saw as a cycle of injustice.”
Bigelow has assembled a youthful, dynamic
cast to do the job, spearheaded by a pair of
talented Brits. John Boyega plays security guard
Melvin Dismukes, while Will Poulter is set for
a career-defining turn as brutal Detroit cop
Krauss. “I saw a strength and prescience in
Will that I knew would ignite the character,”
Bigelow notes. “He’s capable of highly nuanced
performances that make it difficult to take
your eyes off him.”
Her screenwriter and Zero Dark Thirty
collaborator Mark Boal cut no corners, either.
Court records were dusted off and police
statements scoured as he set about discovering
how the violent incident played out. Three
eyewitnesses to the events themselves (including
Dismukes) were asked on set. Expect that
verisimilitude to burn from every fierce frame.Director Kathryn Bigelow is back
with a crunching real-life account
of the Detroit race riotsBREAKING
POINT