Southern Rites (2015)

The documentarian started out by covering the segregated prom in a southern town but discovered there were a couple of other stories to tell on the subject of race: one regards the young black man shot and killed by a white man while fleeing and another of a black chief of police running to be the first black sheriff in his county. So, what's the problem? Those sound like stories worth exploring, right? Well, this film doesn't aim to explore or enlighten, really, it seems to just want to chat. It's kind of like movie is simply saying: “did you hear about that kid who got shot by that white dude? And what about that black man running for sheriff? Yeah, good luck getting justice or elected in this racist place!” We get little insight, just a basic outline.

So I think I may be done with the HBO docs. This one, Tales of the Grim Sleeper & Thought Crimes: The Case of the Cannibal Cop have all felt inadequate to me -- like rough drafts rather than anything cohesive or compelling.

C-