'Monsters And Men (2018)' is a relevant and really quite multifaceted movie about an unlawful police shooting, one that tackles themes of race and racism head-on in surprisingly nuanced ways. Occasionally, however, it is a lot more heavy-handed. Whenever it is, it stumbles slightly, coming close to shaking off its otherwise near rock-solid realism. Thankfully, this doesn't happen often enough to be a major issue. The picture's distinct multi-character approach dampens its impact somewhat, as each shift in segment usually removes the previous protagonist entirely and, basically, begins things anew. Of course, all three portions focus around the aforementioned shooting. As such, the first two parts transition relatively seamlessly and provide immediately obvious alternate perspectives. The third, however, feels quite clunky and takes the steam out of the story. This final segment isn't bad once it gets going, it just prevents the overall narrative from having any real sense of escalation. Still, the unique approach allows for a more wholistic view of the central situation; we see how one event can transform the lives of apparently everyone around it in unexpected ways. For the most part, it's incredibly compelling. It teeters ever so closely on blaming 'bad apples', but ultimately refuses to draw such conclusions - or any conclusions at all, really - and is all the more successful for it. Plus, it doesn't shy away from showing some of the systematic aspects of racism, which a lot of similar ilk unfortunately miss out on. Ultimately, this is an engaging and well-conceived experience. It doesn't claim to have any answers, let alone easy ones. 7/10.
Review of Monsters and Men
