I don't think this film whitewashes history as much as it sidesteps the real power of revolutionary politics. I don't think the cinematography is poor as much as it adopts the visual language of prestige TV and calls it a day. I don't think the screenplay is boring as much as it neuters what could have been a much deeper exploration into the psychology of betrayal. I don't think this film is an insult to Fred Hampton as much as it turns him into a generic ideal of a black revolutionary. I don't think this film is bad as much as it is a series of missed opportunities.

My criticism of this film is certainly harsher because I want there to be a space for radicalism in modern cinema. And while I'm not surprised that a WB film doesn't satisfy that for me (if anything it's an early realization of an existing market niche), I am worried that many self identifying leftists will be content with films that take radical history and adapt it to the shallow cinema we've gotten all too used to.

Also how the fuck do you make a movie about the assassination of Fred Hampton and not mention cointelpro...