This movie is not based on a true story, because it is based on many true stories. I found this movie to be relevant as this review is releasing exactly one week after the Tyre Nichols video came out. Police officers resembling gang members is not a new concept. Anton Fuqua showed us in 2001 with Denzel Washington's incredibly portrayal of an officer who "owns the streets". Using fear, intimidation, and deception to prey on the very citizens he vowed to protect. The director has a beautiful quote about Alonzo (Denzel) bending law an inch, and then bending it a foot, and then a yard; only to then find himself on the other side of the fence. Which is the clear slow fade of anything sliding into lawlessness. It's curated and learned behavior; over time. This movie shows us the result of allowing gang members to have police badges.
