Blindspotting (2018)

[baumer]

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[Webslinger]

It’s a shame that Blindspotting just came and went in the critical and public consciousness this summer. While it doesn’t rise to the very top of the wealth of cinematic riches examining race in 2018, it is a bold, bracing dramedy that feels like it has a unique voice and makes numerous cutting observations about racial tension and gentrification. In many ways, it feels like a slightly gentler and less incendiary spiritual successor to Do the Right Thing: like Spike Lee’s classic slice-of-life drama, it immerses viewers into a vibrant world where economically-disadvantaged people of color take center stage and confront various ways in which the dominant culture around them holds them down; where Blindspotting differs is that it sees and acknowledges hope for change. Character interactions consistently feel authentic, the stakes are high enough to lend urgency in lieu of a more traditional plot, and there are some extremely clever uses of rap as a method of heightening the tension of key scenes. Daveed Diggs, who also wrote the film with co-star Rafael Casal, delivers an eyebrow-raising breakthrough performance. I liked him in his small roles in Wonder and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and he makes the most of his station as the lead actor with a performance that manages convincing shifts between charisma, low-key contemplation, and white-hot intensity. Casal is also impressive as Diggs’s longtime friend whose whiteness allows him to navigate the world more outwardly angrily than Diggs’s character. Diggs and Casal share an affecting bond that comes to a head in satisfying and powerful fashion. This film is a hidden gem that will hopefully gain more attention for its worthy exploration of especially worthy ideas and relationships.

 

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That rapped monologue at the climax was flippin' aces.