A truly great modern movie just hit Amazon Prime Video in the US, bringing one of Spike Lee's very best films to the service at no extra cost for subscribers (whether you pay for the basic, or the ad-free version).
BlacKkKlansman is an incendiary, funny and, at times, devastating bit of work. Its reputation is absolutely stellar, too, with a top-drawer 96% score on Rotten Tomatoes from movie critics. There aren't many others that hit so high on the scale.
The movie tells a fable of policing and civil rights, as Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) becomes the first African-American detective in the Colorado Springs Police Department.
Butting up against prejudice internally, he decides to embark on an ambitious plan to get undercover information about the Ku Klux Klan, by masquerading as a white supremacist.
Despite his supernaturally perfect white phone voice, though, this requires the help of an actual white officer in physical form, which falls to Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver).
This leads to all sorts of tense, ironic, dramatic and sometimes funny situations, but the more BlacKkKlansman goes on, the more serious it becomes. By the end, it's offering up startling moments and some real-world observations that will stay with you for a long time.
Both Washington and Driver are on top form, too, jumping from comic timing to serious emotion whenever it's needed, and proving again that they both have that leading-man quality, as demonstrated in movies such as Tenet and Ferrari.
BlacKkKlansman was pretty much universally praised on release, too, and attracted six Oscar nominations, winning Best Adapted Screenplay for its writing team deservedly, and it got the same award at the BAFTAs to complete a welcome double.
It was added to Prime Video, which is always trying to position itself as the best streaming service for cinephiles, at the start of May, so now's the perfect time to check it out at no extra cost if you have a Prime membership.
Like most Spike Lee films, the soundtrack in BlacKkKlansman is a real stunner, with multiple superb needle drops and classic tracks, so be sure to watch it with one of the best soundbars we've tested under your TV. It'll enhance your experience massively.
