“Blindspotting” (2018)

This movie honestly blew my mind in every way possible, and it’s surprising to see it receive such little recognition. As someone who’s obsessed with films, this is one of my favourites because, even though it covers a heavy topic, it conveys the message in the most natural, lifelike way possible. In movies written and produced after the BLM events, people seem to be walking on eggshells when telling stories, scared to offend or hurt anyone, which is evident in the wording and character presentation.

However, “Blindspotting,” released in 2018, doesn’t care about who looks bad. It cares about the truth of the story and how it resonates with people.

I’ve loved Daveed Diggs since I watched Hamilton, and once again, he surprised me with his acting in this film. The rollercoaster between trauma, comedy, and pain filters through the film, but he always hits the mark. The acting by everyone was outstanding. Even in wordless scenes, the tone of the scenes hits our hearts.

For example, when the mother sees her son with a gun and wraps him in her arms, her cries speak for her. Each scene is beautiful and almost reminds me of the shots in Euphoria, with colour and symbolism. When I saw the scene with the graves and all the victims of society’s ignorance standing in front of it, it made every hair on my arm stand up.

It was a beautiful way of presenting harsh reality, and the most fantastic thing is that they didn’t have to explain it through speech. It’s there right in your face. I think directors need to do more of this now because it seems like every little idea can’t be shown anymore, and people need to be told.

That’s why the scenes in Blindspotting are so perfect and creative because every scene is a metaphor that speaks for itself. It sets up the scenes that do have speech, like the breathtaking monologue at the end, to be powerful and memorable because it doesn’t get lost. Another aspect of the film that made me love it was the music.

Not the actual music but the running beat that seemed to follow the characters from the beginning to the very end. As if they were building up this beat through their running steps, alarms, and opening and shutting of doors and elevators. Even in his dreams, the movement of his arms in shackles was almost dance-like, going along with the sounds of the chains. All the way through to the point where he finally released all the lyrics he had been holding back throughout the whole film. The ideas and feelings he had kept hidden just flowed out at once at the end.

Although the words only came out at the end, the undertone of the beat reminds us that, behind the character’s silence, there was always the beat of his words following him. Overall, “Blindspotting” is incredibly unique in creativity, tone, and delivery.

The film is filled with culture and romance in many different forms. Even when discussing heavy topics, it’s true to the heart and expresses reality, not wrapped in a blanket that keeps viewers happy. It tells us things how they truly are and highlights hamartias that we need to fix.

Racism still exists and will never disappear completely, but if we keep making films like this that don’t hide reality, then we can hopefully enlighten people on ways we can help fix it. I couldn’t find any issues throughout the film, and I loved every second, every character, and every line. That’s why it’s in my top 10 all-time favourites.

Have you seen this movie? What did you think?

And what movie recently blew your mind?”