BlacKkKlansman

Media saturation and Insta-fame mean it's difficult to release a truly meaningful and thought-provoking anything anymore.

Those that do have to be extra special to stand out in the crowd and, fortunately, 2018 has been very kind to us when it comes to protest art. Childish Gambino's This Is America video perhaps is the biggest single and video with Idles' album Joy As An Act Of Resistance set to join it as a landmark album. Spike Lee's BlacKkKlansman stands tall next to these examples from the world of film.

Detroit, Get Out and Dear White People have spoken about American race relations in particularly unflinching and articulate ways recently but Lee's latest may just trump (pun intended) them both in what is a thought-provoking, maximalist barn burner of a film sent to cause a cultural shift.

Some will label it controversial and boundary-pushing but Lee has uncovered a true story about an African-American police officer who infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan with help from a Jewish fellow officer. Revealing too much of what happens next would spoil it for you because what ensues is a high-octane, laugh-out-loud caper so unbelievable it could only be based on a true story.

And as you revel in the meticulously realised 70's setting Lee pulls an almighty rug pull to make you sit up and take notice to how far we've come and how little has changed.

Impeccable cast (John David Washington is set for huge things and Adam Driver is on quite the role at the moment), impeccable soundtrack and impeccable film making.

Lee's not afraid to raise a talking point and not afraid to juxtapose strong imagery. He makes cutting observations within single lines of dialogue and will almost certainly make you check yourself and give you pause for thought.

A masterpiece.

5 stars *****