Genre: Drama
Director: Barry Jenkins
Writer: Chad Taylor
Cast: Kyle Chandler, Kiersey Clemons, Idris Elba, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Brian Tyree Henry, Andre Holland, Kelly MacDonald, John C. Reilly, Ashton Sanders, Mustafa Shakir, Octavia Spencer, Letitia Wright
Plot:
2017
Sunday Phillips (Kiersey Clemons) (pronounced Sun-dee) and older brother Abel (Andre Holland) get by in life in the town of Cairo, Illinois (pronounced Care-oh). It is the southernmost town of the state, at a confluence of two major rivers and three different states. It is also rather geographically isolated, with the closest town of a decent size being 40 minutes away. The town has been in a downward spiral of depopulation, now under 3,000 people (with 70% of those being black). The city’s downtown, which at one time held up to 10,000 people for an event, is essentially empty (as are many of the homes in the area.
At work, Sunday’s boss Roy Jones (John C. Reilly) tells her that not to mention this to anyone but she may in line for a promotion. She ecstatically tells Abel about this news, who himself has a steady job as an auto mechanic in town. The town receives word from the Department of Housing and Urban Development that two of the government housing buildings in town will be shut down due to abysmal conditions, leaving 15% of the population in relocation limbo, Abel and Sunday included. There are only 12 available properties in town and hundreds of vacant lots but abnormally high utility costs make renovations impractical.
Abel meets with a government official who tells him they are looking at places across the river in Kentucky and other surrounding areas but he tells them that he can’t leave because he has a job here and couldn't cover the amount of gas it would take to go back and forth. Afterwards, he pays a visit to his girlfriend, white mother of two Margaret Martin (Kelly MacDonald), who comforts him during this time. Sunday asks Roy about the promotion but he apologizes to her and says that she is not the only of his employees that is affected by this recent development and that he is going to have to take a wait and see approach as customers may also start dwindling. She is annoyed but respects Roy so she tells him she understands.
1909
Economically, Cairo is thriving. Given its location on the rivers, it is a popular spot for the steamboat industry. Despite technically being a northern state, a majority of the town’s 15,000 people share sentiments with the old Confederate south – creating an inherent conflict for blacks, who make up 40% of the population (the highest of any Illinois city).
Will James (Brian Tyree Henry) feels this firsthand as he is conspicuously rejected after enquiring about a job at the docks. He laments about this to his friend Arthur Alexander (Mustafa Shakir), who similarly struggles with unemployment. Sheriff Frank Davis (Kyle Chandler) does not have this problem but he has other issues at hand. The racial inequality in the face of a growing African-American population means he has to always be on guard and his duty to be fair despite his own bigoted views.
On Monday, Frank arrives to the office to a panic in the station. He is told that a 17-year-old girl was discovered dead behind an alley, apparently choked with a flour sack on a walk to her grandmother’s house. He and his deputies immediately spring into action and circle Will, who lives in the area, as a prime suspect. When they take him for his interview, he is adamant that he was at home during this time and his sister Ellie (Letitia Wright) can back this up. When she arrives, his alibi holds up.
On Tuesday, the police fail to find physical evidence that connects Will to the crime and are ready to release him. The white townspeople start to discover that Will is a suspect and grow angry that the police are not charging him with anything. Vocal support emerges for Will to go to trial but Frank sticks to his guns and says they want to use their time efficiently to nail the right man. As the day goes on, a mob starts arriving at the police station pressuring the police into punishing Will for his crimes or else they will.
Frank tells Will to remain calm as they have arraigned for him to leave town on a train in order to avoid the protesters. Will and Ellie leave with Frank and some of his officers on a train out of town and they settle at a motel 30 miles north of town. A police officer annoyed by Frank’s actions leaks this to the lynch mob and they start to consider how to react. Using their vast numbers, they overtake the next train on the track and track down Frank and Will. Despite Frank trying his best to protect him, Will is taken in by the lynch mob and they head back to Cairo.
10,000 people gather near towns square to see Will lynched. He is shaking as the noose is around is neck and sees his life flash before him. In a last ditch effort, he closes his eyes and shouts that he killed her but that Arthur took the lead. He is hanged anyway, to the horror of Ellie, but his size causes the rope to break and he falls to the ground. He starts making heavy staccato breaths before being riddled by over 300 bullets by various guns from the mob. The mob turns their attention to finding Arthur and thousands begin to hunt through the city to find him.
Just as quick to act is Frank, whose officers kept tabs on Arthur the last few days as he was close to Will. Thus, they are able to track down Arthur and take him into their protection from the mob. He tells Arthur that the governor has called in the National Guard to protect the police station in the next few days. As they drive by the alley where the girl was murdered just days earlier (supposedly by Arthur), they are shocked to see Will’s decapitated head situated on a pole at the end of the alley.
2017
Sunday is jolted awake by a loud knock on their door, followed by someone yelling that they are police. When Abel opens the door, he is told that he is under arrest and is taken into custody. Abel and Sunday are both asking what this is for but the police officers stay mum. When Sunday visits him at the police station, he tells her that Margaret was found in her home with scrapes and bruises that indicate some form of physical violence. Because of the injuries to her head, she has no memory of the day it happened and police believe Abel to be the primary suspect.
Because of it being a violent crime, the police keep him in their custody but allow Sunday to see him. In an intense conversation, she begs for him to tell her the truth and he says he would never do this. Another resident of the town gives an anonymous tip to a conservative blog site which picks up on the story and posts pictures of her graphic injuries, positing that black citizens of the town are taking out their anger about the town’s dissolution on the white residents. With simmering outrage from outside voices, Abel is put on suspension without pay from his job until further notice.
Sunday visits Margaret in the hospital and tells her that Abel didn’t do this and Margaret believes the same. However, there is circumstantial evidence connecting Abel to the crime scene which supersedes Margaret’s own opinion since she has no memory. The residents of the housing project are given a three-week deadline to move out, spurring Sunday to start investigating Margaret’s beating on her own (knowing the history of incompetency of the city’s law system). At work, Roy extends the offer of promotion but Sunday is hesitant. She can’t decide if the income increase is worth the more time she will have to devote to work and thus away from her brother’s case. She asks if he can delay the decision but he says that unfortunately upper management has told him it give it to the next person in line. She declines and begins to cry, with Roy comforting her and telling her something else will likely pop up.
1967
The times are different than before. The industries that once had the city thriving have left town and its population is both declining and increasingly impoverished. While this was the Summer of Love for some, it was the Long Hot Summer for others. National legislation had been passed to aid the economic integration of racial minorities but this had not seemed to penetrate Cairo.
Jack Stirling (Ashton Sanders), a young aspiring boxer, watches in a television in a shop window as the news covers the events of the week. Race riots are occurring in multiple major cities across America. Perhaps even more pertinent to Jack is the trial of his idol Muhammad Ali, who is being charged by the government for refusing to sign up for the draft. Jack finds this honorable, as he also doesn’t feel like fighting for a country who doesn’t respect him. However, he plans to keep these feelings hidden from his best friend Robert (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), who is a year older than him and returning from Vietnam for a brief leave this week.
With Robert back in town, he and Jack spend the early evening reminiscing about their early years and how isolated Cairo is beginning to feel. While Robert is happy that he was able to get out for a while, he obviously wishes it was under better circumstances. Jack wants to ask him about his time in Vietnam but is afraid to say anything. They instead spend their time staying positive.
The next day, Jack is woken up by his mother who warns him tat she has some bad news. Robert was arrested last night for apparently being “absent without leave” from the army and was found hanged in his jail cell using his T-shirt. Jack’s ears start ringing when he hears this news and he immediately rushes to Robert’s house to visit his mother Florence (Octavia Spencer) and siblings. When confronted with the “why?” of it all, Jack glances at a picture of Robert in uniform but holds his tongue and lets out a sigh instead. They are visited by Marvin Thompson (Idris Elba), a local black community leader and friend of Robert’s mother.
While he is quick to offer a shoulder to cry on, he starts to tell the family of the suspicions that he and others are having that Robert may not have committed suicide. They think the police are covering up something far minister, cleansing their own hands. Witnesses noticed bruises on Robert’s body and do not believe the wire mesh at the top of his cell could have supported his weight. This makes Robert’s mother upset and she asks him to leave. Meanwhile, Jack seems to reflect on Marvin’s words and leaves soon after.
On his way home, Jack overhears conversations about the state preparing to send the National Guard to put a stop to any potential protests. Upon arriving home, he hears that there have been a couple of fire bombings and the blossoming of a riot like those elsewhere in the United States. In his room, we find out that Jack has already received his draft letter but has yet to even open it.
The next day, as the riots intensify, Jack seeks Marvin out and tells him he wants to help in any way he can. He says that Robert was in good spirits when he was with him that night and doesn’t see why he would commit suicide. Marvin takes Jack under his wing and educates him on the history of civil rights in Cairo and why Robert’s death matters. In the night, Jack follows Marvin into the heart of the riots, which are practically a war zone. He tasks Jack with delivering some of the protesters with supplies. He sends him to deliver water and bullets to the men on top of the old bank building. Jack is hesitant but Marvin reminds him of the importance of this cause and to remember to always be aware of his surroundings.
Jack arrives at the top of the building and delivers the supplies to the men up there. He notices that they have large sniper rifles. As they are up there, the protestors below start clashing with National Guard and police and the men set up in position. Bullets start to be exchanged and Jack rushes to get behind a wall. The gunfire frightens him but he hangs behind momentarily to see if the men survive. He is heavily breathing and shaking. Once rushing down the stairs, he runs at a full sprint back home and curls up in his bed, in tears. The final shot is of the draft letter sitting on his dresser.
2017
With the help of Margaret and Roy (who allows her to come to use his office computer), spends the next day scouring information. Eventually, she finds a lead on social media of a potential suspect with a history of assault and home invasion who made vague online posts the night of the attack. The police test the DNA and it is a match. Abel is released and hurries to the hospital to be by Margaret’s side. He says words can’t describe how much it hurt him to think people would think of him capable of this and that the thought of hurting her is unbearable. He says he wants to be with her forever. She says that he and Sunday can move in with her and her boys for the time being so they can have time to figure it all that.
Roy tells Sunday that company officials were impressed by her determination during this time and are willing to help enroll her in online classes from a community college, which will help her with career advancement. While the company wants her to sign up for business management courses, she decides her ultimate goal is to focus on community organization, so she can eventually help the city of Cairo and the people who are isolated there moving forward.
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