Welcome to Cinema of Resistance, a semi-monthly column highlighting films of all genres and styles with one thing in common – a desire to shed light on, fight against, and/or stick it to authoritarian regimes, fascists, and bigots both in present day and historically. Genre film about violently killing Nazis, deep drama about finding meaning in suffering, important documentaries that provide hope, dystopian fantasies – it’s all here. In the face of an authoritarian regime, the time to resist is now. So, here at Cinapse, we’re celebrating the resistance.
Last week, I had the pleasure of talking with filmmaker Ryan Prows about his new film, Night Patrol, which is currently in theaters across the United States. Beginning at its premiere at Fantastic Fest a few months ago, Prows’s sophomore effort and first horror feature has been gaining a lot of well deserved buzz and praise. With the action packed tone of a Carpenter classic, social commentary as poignant as a Romero prophecy, and the unapologetic bite of a Spike Lee joint – this feature is sufficient evidence that Prows is quickly becoming a genre filmmaker to watch.
While I’ve been planning to launch this column with some long overdue thoughts on late 2024 biopic Bonhoeffer, the timing of this release pushed the historically and contemporarily important film on the life of a great man or principle and faith back a week in favor of highlighting just a bit of what makes Night Patrol worthy of not just your time, but deep consideration of its message and mode of delivery. Featuring Justin Long, CM Punk, Jermaine Fowler, RJ Cyler, and Dermot Mulroney – not to mention some hip hop royalty (Freddie Gibbs and YG) and an avant-garde musical genius (Flying Lotus) – this is a stacked cast that shows range and depth in telling a story that’s a poignant as any being told on the screen today.
Stop me when you see something here that rings a bell. The film’s namesake is a tactical strike force tasked with going into minority populated neighborhoods and indiscriminately feeding off the lifeblood of these people, leaving the neighborhoods and the families inhabiting them without their loved ones or much hope for escape.
While this LAPD task force is comprised of literal vampires in SWAT style black uniforms and the current gangs of thugs deployed in Minnesota and other cities nationwide are humans – or at least claim to be – in military gear, this film could easily represent the way ICE agents are tearing up the cities throughout the US. It’s not technically about ICE – as the film was conceived and written back when ICE actually operated with some moderate form of ethics and most of the vampires in the film aren’t afraid to show their faces like the ICE goons are – it easily could be. Prows and his writing team, as well as the incredible cast, bring to life a story that places warring sets of gang members in an alliance to defend themselves and the people of their city from a violent inhuman force.
The film’s official synopsis is as follows:
An LAPD officer must put aside his differences with the area’s street gangs when he discovers a local police task force is harboring a horrific secret that endangers the residents of the housing projects he grew up in.
Before you read any further, there are some minor spoilers below. While most other issues of Cinema of Resistance will inevitably feature major spoilers at times and will deep dive into themes, this film is still in theaters, so the spoilers will be minor and I felt it important to tell you about them up front here.
There are several great twists and turns, a ton of stellar action sequences, and a potent story about real people fighting back against a team of white supremacist cops that are dead set on literally sucking the life out of black and brown people in low income housing. The big takeaway that led me to start this column here – with Night Patrol – wasn’t just the simple ACAB resistance (though that would be enough) but the fact that to dismantle a group of racist bloodthirsty fascists there must be pressure from both the inside and outside.
The local Crip set (led by Nicki Micheaux’s Ayanda – mother of RJ Cyler’s Wazi, a young Crip, and Jermaine Fowler’s Xavier, a former gang member turned LAPD beat cop) and the local Blood set (led by Freddie Gibbs’s Bornelius, with YG and Flying Lotus in tow) have a common enemy to fight against. These groups are the pressure from the outside. But the success of their resistance hinges on some co-occurring pressure from inside Night Patrol itself. In order to affect change, there often needs to be both a battle on the streets and own within the ranks. This film illustrates that perfectly.
In Night Patrol, the gangs are the community literally fighting back. Sometimes this can be enough to squelch the power of the oppressor. Sometimes peaceful protest, armed resistance, or something in between can be exactly what is needed to eliminate the threat – whether an LAPD task force populated with the undead or masked ICE “agents” whose humanity is slipping away. But, much of the time, some pressure from within groups like these is needed, as well. You can see this in history where undercover agents infiltrate white supremacist groups, corrupt police operations, or even numerous Nazi special forces groups. Sometimes, instead of infiltration, this pressure comes from members of the group turning against the original mission, growing a conscience, and fighting for what’s right. No matter the case, it’s often this internal pressure that can aid in the success of the fight in the streets.
In this future genre favorite, CM Punk and his goon crew are literal vampires who feed on the poor black and brown people of LA – and every single one of them plays their role perfectly. With Jermaine Fowler and RJ Cyler as the heartbeats of this film and Justin Long branching into a different type of genre lead than we’ve ever seen him before, the story is told in a powerful and entertaining way that not only enthralls but also really gets the point across. The acting, the vision, the film’s look and feel, the music, all of it – Night Patrol creates a truly enjoyable ride where the viewer gets to watch racist cops killed and the everyman heroes put aside differences to fight for a common cause. A story’s potency is lost if the vessel doesn’t capture its audience – but thankfully that’s never a concern.
Fascism doesn’t have to win and, through some great cinema and storytelling, this column will continue to explore how resistance is modeled in cinema. No better place to kick it off than an action horror film that embraces hip hop culture and punk rock ethos to paint a picture of fighting back against the cruelty and violence of a corrupt “law enforcement” task force. Night Patrol is a genre pièce de résistance of actual resistance in an age where we need to remember how to resist, no matter whether we find ourselves behind enemy lines or on the front lines. ACAB, or ACAV as it were.
Hate is real. Fascism is real. The time for fight for change is now. Let’s learn from and celebrate the Cinema of Resistance, as we regroup and push against the threat together as one.
For further exploration, listen to Ryan Prows discuss the film, racism, pro wrestling, and more with Doug Tilley and I on the latest Curtain Jerkers:
