Daveed Diggs, Rafael Casal, Janina Gavankar
The feature film debut of director Carlos López Estrada is a timely and wildly entertaining story about the intersection of race and class set against the backdrop of rapidly gentrifying Oakland, California.
Written by and starring two lifelong friends (Rafael Casal and Tony-winner Daveed Diggs of Hamilton fame), Blindspotting follows ex-con Collin (Diggs) who is trying to stay on the straight and narrow – which isn’t always easy when his jocular longtime pal Miles (Casal) always seems to be one second away from making the worst possible life decision. During the last days of Collin’s probation, the pair work as movers and marvel in horror over their old neighbourhood which is quickly becoming a trendy hotspot where kale juice costs $10.
A magnetic mix of anarchic buddy comedy, gentrification satire and post-prison drama, more than anything Blindspotting is a homage to its hometown and a deeply earnest work about the state of race relations in a changing landscape.
