From Brent Lang’s 8.1 Variety story about Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal‘s Detroit, which opens on Thursday night: “What emerges in Detroit is punishing to watch. It’s a film without a moral victory. Innocent people die. Murderers go unpunished. Good men and women are left to pick up the pieces. Some are unable to move on. In a coda to the picture, Agee Smith’s character, Reed, gives up singing professionally and retreats from the world. ‘It’s a tough movie,’ admits Boal. ‘The movie is challenging to watch. We’re in a difficult spot in the world right now, [but] I’m hopeful that audiences will respond to the challenge that the movie poses and appreciate not being talked down to.'”
