One of the fan and critical favorites at this year's Sundance Film Festival was the new film from writer-director Rick Famuyiwa, whose past films have focused on upper-class black characters in such works as THE WOOD, BROWN SUGAR, and OUT FAMILY WEDDING. But with DOPE, he's taking a different approach by diving headfirst into the drug- and gang-infested area know as The Bottoms, said to be the toughest neighborhood in Inglewood, California. But rather than focus on those aspects of black culture, he makes a small window in the life of young black nerd Malcolm (Shameik Moore), a kid obsessed with '90s hip-hop culture as reflected in music, clothes, television and movies. He's also in a pop-punk band called Awreeoh (pronounced Oreo) with his two best friends Jib (Tony Revolori, the bellhop from THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL) and Diggy (Kiersey Clemons), their lesbian pal who often gets mistaken for a boy.
Malcolm and his friends are frequently picked on by the likes of school bully Bug (SHORT TERM 12's Keith Stanfield) or local drug dealer Dom (rapper A$ap Rocky), who enlists Malcolm to deliver messages to a girl the dealer likes named Nakia (Zoë Kravitz, who has never looked more like her mother, Lisa Bonet). But it's clear Malcolm has eyes for Nakia as well, even if it means he's putting his life in danger.
At a birthday party of Dom's that he invites Malcolm to, the cops raid the event and Dom manages to slip several packages of uncut MDMA (or Molly) into Malcolm's backpack so the cops won't find it, leaving him in a real quandary. Malcolm is also intent on getting into Harvard, and he has the grades to do it—although as his career counsellor reminds him, straight A's in his school don't mean shit. He has an alumni interview set in a few days, and instead of focusing on that, he's out trying to figure out how to dispose of these drugs.
DOPE is about 50 percent plot and 50 percent execution and audio-visual flair. The soundtrack is a glorious mix of '90s rap music and Awreeoh's catchy rock numbers (all original songs by Pharrell Williams, an executive producer on the work, whose music for this film reminded me of outtakes from his N.E.R.D. days). But more than the overt touches, the movie has a raw, defiant energy that makes an honest discussion about race both funny and poignant. And the conversations aren't just about the differences between white and black; there are several honest exchanges about what it means to be black and several outright critical monologues about black culture looking down on anyone attempting to escape from their street-level roots.
There are also silly but revealing conversations about white people using the N-word as a term of affection for their black or white friends, and a critical look at the ways that young black people sometimes use the drug life as a means to get money to follow their dreams of escape. Very few of these topics are ones that make the characters (or audience) feel comfortable, but the discussions feel vital and important, even when they're played for laughs.
Shameik Moore is a weird and worthy force in DOPE, with his flat-top haircut and perfect jaw line, he's a nerd on the outside but is slowly realizing that standing out in a crowd attracts the attention of ladies as well as bullies. And his scenes with Kravitz are loaded with chemistry and sex appeal. He feels trapped in a neighborhood that will never appreciate him, while knowing that even if he gets into Harvard, he likely won't be understood their either.
Eventually Malcolm realizes that the only way to rid himself of the drugs is to sell them himself, so he sets up an elaborate selling system involving the internet, Bitcoin, and stoned white hacker Will Sherwood (Blake Anderson), who is capable enough to pull this off but reckless enough to possibly screw something up. It's the perfect combination.
Each chapter of their journey from innocent but knowledgeable kids to crafty drug dealers is like a new chapter in their descent, until a crucial moment arrives when Malcolm is forced to hold a gun, probably for the first time in his life. A social commentary posing as a teen comedy, DOPE is solid, confident filmmaking from Famuyiwa, anchored by a host of solid young actors, all of whom will hopefully go on to produce even more hard-to-categorize works like this one.
