Detroit

Always fascinated by violent, mostly masculine group dynamics, Kathryn Bigelow reteams with The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty screenwriter Mark Boal for this visceral and epic take on the 1967 Detroit riots that left 43 people dead, mostly focusing on the horrifying events that occurred at the Algiers Motel. The opening third of Detroit, a rhythmically careening depiction of the early days of the riot, stands as one of the most electric and original pieces of filmmaking in Bigelow’s career. A James Cameron understudy, Bigelow usually thrives on iron-fisted control, but the opening passage of Detroit feels loose-limbed, spacious and expansive, quite unlike anything else in her frequently claustrophobic filmography. Tense, bravura, intimate and frightening, the long middle portion depicting the Algiers Motel incident fits snugly into Bigelow’s wheelhouse, but the final movement of Detroit feels more like the work of an awards-grubber, and exposes her general awkwardness with warmth. D.B.