At the same time a fun, crazy, and meaningful movie about Malcom and his friends, high school teenagers and proud geeks who suddenly find themselves immersed in the underground LA drug scene. It’s a 2015 Superbad meets Boyz in the Hood. But in its essence it mostly resembles another beautiful film, Juno, in the way it evolves around a character played perfectly who you get to know, agree and disagree with, and ultimately learn from and relate to. Above all it’s an outright enjoyable film, a smart one too, with a great soundtrack to boot.
Malcolm is carefully surviving life in a tough neighborhood in Los Angeles while juggling college applications, academic interviews, and the SAT. A chance invitation to an underground party leads him into an adventure that could allow him to go from being a geek, to being dope, to ultimately being himself.
Cannes
1 nomination
Sundance
1 win
A$AP Rocky, Sean Combs, Pharrell Williams, and Forest Whitaker are among the prominent names associated with this undervalued urban dramedy. Shameik Moore plays Malcolm, a borderline-eccentric hip hop head whose dream is to make it to Harvard from the mean streets of Inglewood. As part of an eclectic trio who would rather be recording punk rock tracks than gangbanging, he finds himself in a problematic situation when one innocuous night out snowballs into potential disaster for his school, social, and love-life. Director Rick Famuyiwa crafts a stylistic tale that is as fun to watch as it is compelling throughout its runtime. Not only 90s kids will feel nostalgic as the tastefully selected soundtrack carries them through the award-winning editing of the aptly named Dope.