Blindspotting

BLINDSPOTTING (15)

D: Carlos Lopez Estrada

Lionsgate/Summit/Codeblack/Snoot (Keith Calder, Jess Calder, Rafael Casal & Daveed Diggs)

USA 🇺🇸 2018

96 mins

Comedy/Drama

W: Daveed Diggs & Rafael Casal

DP: Robby Baumgartner

Ed: Gabriel Fleming

Mus: Michael Yezerski

Daveed Diggs (Collin Hoskins), Rafael Casal (Miles), Janina Gavankar (Val), Jasmine Cephas Jones (Ashley), Ethan Embry (Off. Molinas), Tisha Campbell-Martin (Mama Liz)

Blindspotting is a personal piece of work from co-stars and writers Daveed Diggs & Rafael Casal, set in their native city of Oakwood, CA, which they felt was often misrepresented in the movies, depicted here as a bustling Californian suburb which has gone through a process of gentrification in recent years.

Diggs stars as Collin, an ex-convict trying to keep his nose clean during his last three days on probation after serving time for a violent assault. However, it's a long three days when he's hanging around with his hot-tempered best friend and workmate Miles. Collin also witnesses an illegal shooting by a police officer which causes some internal conflict.

Though the film does have a clever message at its heart about perceptions and prejudice, it does take on a little too much when it juggles topics like socio-economic backgrounds & privileges, racism and other such political subjects.

Still, it's a decently well-written breakthrough for its two main cast members with some realistic dialogue, it just goes a little off the tracks at moments as it struggles to cope with all its moral messages. It's almost a case of throwing as much on the screen as possible, just to see what sticks.

7/10