--- title: "BlacKkKlansman: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/blackkklansman/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/blackkklansman" critics_score: 80 critics_reviews: 16 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # BlacKkKlansman (2018): what the critics said Critics' score 80 from 16 reviews: 16 positive, 0 mixed, 0 negative. Most critics welcome BlacKkKlansman as an energetic, funny and politically forceful film, praising Spike Lee’s handling of comedy alongside the threat of racist violence. The reviews repeatedly credit him with making the connections between 1970s America and the present feel urgent. Praise also clusters around the performances, particularly John David Washington’s, and the mixture of undercover thriller, broad satire and romance. For most, the entertainment strengthens the political message rather than softening it. The disagreement concerns how much depth and tension that approach allows. The Playlist finds the pacing too relaxed and the drama less involving than it should be, while /Film considers the contemporary parallels heavy-handed. These reservations sit within a broadly positive consensus, but Sight and Sound offers a sharper dissent: it sees a clumsy parable that favours jokes over examining racial hatred. The central divide is over whether Lee’s directness clarifies his subject or leaves too much unexplored. ## Little White Lies — Adam Woodward Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 15 May 2018. Festival review. Spike Lee’s most entertaining and thought-provoking film in years, blending humour, romance and social commentary on racism while paying homage to blaxploitation cinema. [Read the review](https://lwlies.com/festivals/blackkklansman-cannes-review) ## The New Yorker — Richard Brody Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 10 August 2018. Lee has made a movie of bold and brilliant paradox that is politically passionate yet often bouncy and catchy. It offers a clear view of possible change while revealing the racist rot at the core of American society. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/blackkklansman-reviewed-spike-lees-vision-of-resistance-to-white-supremacy) ## Los Angeles Times Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 7 August 2018. The film is one of Lee's best, with the director at his peak using a decades-old story to comment unnervingly on today's world. It balances brutal satiric comedy, social commentary and romance while remaining relevant. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-blackkkklansman-review-20180806-story.html) ## Radio Times — Emma Simmonds Rating ★★★★. 16 August 2018. Spike Lee is in raging and righteous form, delivering a playful yet political collage-like film that struts with ambition and gusto while making hard-to-deny connections between past and present. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/blackkklansman-review-spike-lee-struts-his-film-making-stuff-with-ambition-and-gusto/) ## The Telegraph — Tim Robey Rating 4/5. 23 August 2018. Spike Lee is back on thunderclap form with this true-life account of a black cop in Seventies Colorado Springs who managed to get himself enrolled in the KKK. A heady hybrid of comedy, polemic and period crime drama with rollicking drive and focus. [Read the review](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/blackkklansman-review-spike-lees-kkk-comedy-rollicking-hit/) ## Time Out — Phil de Semlyen Rating 4/5. 15 May 2018. Spike Lee is back to his energised, fiery best with a high-energy mix of blaxploitation spoof, undercover thriller and savage political bite that connects the 1970s story to modern America. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/blackkklansman) ## Screen Daily Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 14 May 2018. Festival review. A movie of raw anger and sadness that uses its true story to shine a light on ongoing racism, sobering and darkly funny with strong performances but uneven in places. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/blackkklansman-cannes-review/5129334.article) ## Empire — Helen O'Hara 8 August 2018. The critic calls it vital and timely work up there with Spike Lee's best, a hilarious romp and devastating indictment that blends knockabout adventure with serious political polemic. She singles out the strong performances, especially John David Washington's breakout turn and the nuance given to the lead characters' internal conflicts. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/blackkklansman-review/) ## Evening Standard — Matthew Norman 24 August 2018. The critic praises the refined rage and riotous wit that make it Spike Lee's most enjoyable film for years, a stiletto rather than a sledgehammer. He singles out the superb performances, particularly John David Washington and Topher Grace as David Duke, along with the laugh lines and sight gags. [Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/blackkklansman-review-a-refined-rage-that-is-all-the-more-lethal-for-it-a3919246.html) ## Film Comment — Teo Bugbee 1 July 2018. The film is a deeply entertaining and conventionally appealing movie that loses none of Lee’s signature political punch. It follows the beats of a traditional cop movie while adding a coda that reframes the story through a contemporary lens. [Read the review](https://www.filmcomment.com/article/it-happened-here/) ## Sight and Sound — Kelli Weston 23 August 2018. The film is a sweeping, clumsy parable more concerned with landing jokes than interrogating racial hatred, ultimately failing to get to the heart of racist America despite its contemporary parallels. [Read the review](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/blackkklansman-review-spike-lee-fails-get-heart-racist-america) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw 26 August 2018. Spike Lee’s Cannes grand prix winner is the director’s best work since his Oscar-nominated 1997 documentary 4 Little Girls. It combines stylistic slickness with controversial potential in a stranger-than-fiction tale of an African American cop infiltrating the Ku Klux Klan. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/aug/26/blackkklansman-review-spike-lee-blistering-return-to-form) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Todd McCarthy 14 May 2018. Festival review. An incredible true-life story told in a boisterously exaggerated way, BlacKkKlansman is Spike Lee’s most flat-out entertaining and commercial film in quite a long time. Lee draws direct lines from 1970s institutional racism to recent events like Charlottesville while entertaining with humor and cultural references. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/blackkklansman-review-1111869/) ## The New York Times — A.O. Scott Rating Critic's Pick. 9 August 2018. The critic calls it one of Spike Lee's greatest films, a furious, funny and brilliant confrontation with American racism and historical truth. It singles out the director's deft tonal shifts and dazzling craft for praise. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/09/movies/blackkklansman-review-spike-lee.html) ## The Times — Ed Potton Rating ★★★★☆. 24 August 2018. This is a movie whose often broad comedy smuggles dead-serious contraband, a Trojan horse with a Seventies afro. You’ll laugh and shudder, all at once. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/uk/society/article/film-review-blackkklansman-sbz0pdtt8) ## Total Film 16 May 2018. Festival review. The critic calls it one of Spike Lee's most angry, focused, politically charged films and his angriest and best movie for years, an accessible drama that is also a genre piece. She singles out the farcical situation handled with broad satire and the real chemistry between leads. [Read the review](https://www.gamesradar.com/cannes-2008-blackkklansman-is-spike-lees-angriest-and-best-movie-for-years/) ## Variety — Peter Debruge Rating Critic's Pick. 14 May 2018. Festival review. This is a major comeback for Spike Lee and one of his best films in a dozen years, turning an incredible true story into compelling black empowerment and commentary on cinema history. It feels like Lee's call to action against racism. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2018/film/reviews/spike-lee-blackkklansman-review-black-klansman-1202809643/) ## Vulture 6 August 2018. Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman is an entertaining and effective piece of melodrama that savages The Birth of a Nation and connects 1970s events to the present. It features a stupendous score and painfully funny moments amid its graphic melodrama. [Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/2018/08/spike-lee-blackkklansman-movie-review.html) ## Deadline — Pete Hammond Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 7 August 2018. Festival review. The critic calls it Spike Lee's most urgent, entertaining and pertinent film since Inside Man, a sharp and powerful return to form. He singles out the true story of a black cop infiltrating the KKK and the timely parallels to the present day. [Read the review](https://deadline.com/video/blackkklansman-review-spike-lees-cannes-winner-is-his-best-in-years-sharp-powerful-and-timely/) ## Collider — Gregory Ellwood Rating B+. 9 August 2018. The critic finds Lee balances humor with serious racial themes effectively, calling it arguably his best film since Inside Man. The review singles out the strong performances and timely social commentary for praise. [Read the review](https://collider.com/blackkklansman-review/) ## Den of Geek — David Crow Rating 4/5. 17 August 2018. Spike Lee’s film is a powerful, messy meditation on hate in America and the role of cinema in that oppression. It is angry and disparate but electrifying in its best scenes, with a final montage that sobers the audience. [Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/blackkklansman-review-spike-lee/) ## Digital Spy — Hugh Armitage Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 24 August 2018. Lee’s latest is a rollercoaster that is laugh-out-loud when it isn’t shocking you into stunned silence, a powerful response to a dark moment in history and a reminder that racism is alive and well. It is also a damn fine and funny piece of entertainment. [Read the review](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a863908/blackkklansman-review-spike-lee/) ## The Ringer — Justin Charity Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 8 August 2018. The critic describes the film as a light yet powerful comedy that robs the Klan of mystique while highlighting real horrors through farce. The review singles out the goofy tone and timely conclusion tying into modern events for praise. [Read the review](https://www.theringer.com/2018/08/08/movies/black-klansman-spike-lee-review-unite-the-right-charlottesville) ## The Wrap — Steve Pond Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 8 August 2018. Festival review. The critic praises it as quintessential Spike Lee and his most vital and impassioned film in decades, more accomplished than many recent works. He highlights the crazy true story fueled by righteous anger and leavened by humor, with strong performances especially from John David Washington. [Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/blackkklansman-cannes-review-spike-lee-looks-back-forward-anger/) ## The Playlist — Jessica Kiang Rating B. 16 May 2018. Festival review. The critic praises its witty comedy and exploration of shared oppression but finds it messy and low-energy at times, with relaxed pacing that prevents it from punching as hard as expected from Lee, resulting in a less dramatically immersive experience. [Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/spike-lee-blackkklansman-cannes-review-20180516/) ## HeyUGuys — Jo-Ann Titmarsh Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 18 May 2018. Festival review. The critic calls it an entertaining romp based on the true story of a Black undercover detective infiltrating the KKK, with strong period look, music, and a powerful closing message linking historical and contemporary racism. It notes the film could have built more tension instead of relying on comedy and frivolity. [Read the review](https://www.heyuguys.com/blackkklansman-review/) ## /Film — Joi Childs Rating 7/10. 6 August 2018. The critic finds the film spirited and enjoyable but clumsy and heavy-handed in its connections between 1970s racism and the present day, with forced messaging that sacrifices depth in the historical story for contemporary relevance. [Read the review](https://www.slashfilm.com/560116/blackkklansman-review/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/blackkklansman.md