Malcolm is an incredibly smart teenager who lives in a really tough neighborhood in Inglewood, Calif. with his single mother. He and his two best friends, Diggy and Jib, are obsessed with 90’s hip-hop culture and play in a punk band. Malcolm wants to be able to get into Harvard despite his home and family situation.

When he happens to get invited to a drug dealer’s birthday party, he accidentally gets mixed up with some drugs that he needs to get rid of. This adventure turns Malcolm’s life around, and provides him the opportunity to try to find who he is.

I was pleasantly surprised with this film. Dope is a deep coming-of-age tale, but avoids clichés. It also broke the stereotype of urban heist movies. It was funny, smart, thought-provoking, loose and fast-paced. Intense, yet lighthearted.

In addition to being all-around entertaining, Dope did such a good job of addressing some serious issues, race issues being the most prominent.

No wonder this movie was a Sundance Film Festival audience favorite. The acting was so good with stars such as Zoe Kravitz, Shameik Moore, ASAP Rocky and more.

The script was incredible and anything but boring. And the soundtrack was amazing.

I would highly recommend this film. There is nudity and, obviously, drug usage and some other risqué themes, but as long as the viewer is mature, this movie is definitely a must-see. 8.5/10.

16bmathias@usd489.com