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Poster for Chi-Raq

Chi-Raq

No peace. No piece.

2015 · 2h 7m · R Comedy, Crime, Drama
Directed by Spike Lee

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Overview

A modern day adaptation of the ancient Greek play Lysistrata by Aristophanes, set against the backdrop of gang violence in Chicago.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
82%
Tomatometer
Fresh

Lee returns to engaging, enraged form with Chi-Raq, combining social commentary, anger, humour, dramatics and over-the-top style in a sometimes messy mix that uses every trick necessary to put a spotlight on America's poisonous love affair with guns.

Linda Barnard, Toronto Star
Fresh

Lee's film is worth seeing for its bombastic excess and camo-clad dance scenes. But if you're looking for tactful visual responses to the Black Lives Matter movement and the effects of police brutality, this isn't it.

Julia Cooper, Globe and Mail
Fresh

Never subtle, always strident and absolutely necessary.

Bruce Kirkland, Toronto Sun
Fresh

It's messy in places, as Lee's movies tend to be. But there isn't a moment that Chi-Raq isn't alive. This is a deeply serious, biting picture that also has joy in its heart.

Stephanie Zacharek, TIME Magazine
Rotten

You long for "Chi-Raq" to succeed. Sad to report, it's an awkward affair, stringing out its tearful scenes of mourning, and going wildly astray with its lurches into farce.

Anthony Lane, New Yorker

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