BlacKkKlansman (2018)
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A black officer in the Colorado Springs Police Department goes undercover to infiltrate and expose a local Ku Klux Klan chapter.
The story
In 1972, Ron Stallworth is hired as the first ever black officer in the Colorado Springs Police Department. Assigned to work in the records room, he tires of being bullied and applies to be an undercover officer. He is assigned to infiltrate a local rally where national civil rights leader Kwame Ture is speaking. At the rally, Ron meets Patrice Dumas, president of the Black Student Union at Colorado College. While taking Ture to his hotel, Patrice is stopped by a racist officer in Ron's precinct. Following the rally, Ron is reassigned to the intelligence division, where he begins a dangerous game of deception to expose the local Ku Klux Klan.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In 1972, Ron Stallworth becomes the first black officer in the Colorado Springs Police Department. After being bullied in the records room, he goes undercover to infiltrate a local Ku Klux Klan chapter. He recruits his Jewish coworker, Flip Zimmerman, to pose as him in person while Ron communicates with the Klan via phone. Ron begins dating Patrice, a local activist, without revealing his identity as a cop. The investigation leads to the discovery of Klan members at a high-security defense facility. During a tense confrontation, Flip is nearly exposed, and Ron must intervene. The plot culminates in a violent confrontation where a bomb intended for a rally is detonated, killing several Klan members. Ron and Patrice are later harassed by a racist officer, whom Ron exposes via a wire. The film concludes with a stark transition to real-world footage of the 2017 Unite the Right rally, ending with a tribute to Heather Heyer.
- First release year
- 2018
- Runtime (minutes)
- 135
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Spike Lee
- Writers
- Charlie Wachtel · writer; David Rabinowitz · writer; Kevin Willmott · writer; Spike Lee · writer
- Cast and characters
- John David Washington · Stallworth; Adam Driver · Flip Zimmerman; Laura Harrier · Patrice; Topher Grace · conveyed as supporting role
- Genres
- biographical; crime; comedy-drama
- Themes
- racism; anti-fascism; identity
- Tone and mood
- tense; provocative
- Premise and plot tags
- undercover; historical fiction; political
- Source material / true-story basis
- Black Klansman by Ron Stallworth
- Reception
- The film received critical acclaim, with praise for Spike Lee's direction, the performances of Washington and Driver, and its timely themes. It was noted as a return to form for Lee.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 96% · scale: percentage · review count: 450; Metacritic · score: 83 · scale: 100 · review count: 56; PostTrak · score: 85% · scale: percentage
- Awards and nominations
- Grand Prix · Cannes Film Festival · win
- Production trivia
- Features Harry Belafonte's last performance before his death in 2023.; The film's release date was chosen to coincide with the one-year anniversary of the Charlottesville rally.; The screenplay was voted 90th in WGA’s 101 Greatest Screenplays of the 21st Century.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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