Chi-Raq

R

Released Dec 4, 2015

2 hr. 7 min.

Comedy

Drama

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List

82%

151 Reviews

Tomatometer

53%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

The girlfriend (Teyonah Parris) of a Chicago gang leader (Nick Cannon) persuades other frustrated women to abstain from sex until their men agree to end the senseless cycle of violence.

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Critics Consensus

Chi-Raq is as urgently topical and satisfyingly ambitious as it is wildly uneven -- and it contains some of Spike Lee's smartest, sharpest, and all-around entertaining late-period work.

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Alec B

Essentially the problem is that the film clumsily moves between very broad (and mostly unfunny) comedy and really earnest emotional pleas for change without any consistency. It's hard to fault Lee too much for trying something so bold, but this movie simply doesn't work.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

12/14/23

Full Review

steve d

I normally love Spike Lee's writing. This one just didn't land for me.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

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Missy B

Definitely makes you think and has a good point. The way it is in the world now and the innocent killings. The 70s we're about Make Love, Not War, and this is the 21st century version of the same thing. It was a good point then and a good point now. Too much gun violence and the shootings. If only the idea in the movie would make a difference. Good movie, and the cast was star filled with past and present. Angela Bassett and Samuel L Jackson are the best.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

09/03/22

Full Review

Mike J

My high school buddy didn't like so I never watched spike lee is a genius.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/28/22

Full Review

Audience Member

While Spike Lee's anger, passion, and overall message are admirable, coming across authentic and justified, it is rare that these updated retellings of historical works actually work for me. There was some dialogue I felt quite deeply and other spells that totally lost me, but the concept of portraying the violence in Chicago by retelling the classic Lysistrata made for quite a creative exercise. I had no previous experience with the Lysistrata but even if the film wasn't always hitting the right notes for me it is hard not to feel emotions when forced to consider all the innocent people still dying from this senseless violence. Samuel L. Jackson Binge: This wasn't a large role for Jackson in screen time, but it was important and memorable as he acted as a quasi narrator, setting up many of the scenes or explaining the relative intermittent action taking place off screen. His delivery was epic, as he often spoke in classical verse, dialing up the carefree confidence that makes him so well loved. SLJ January #60

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/20/23

Full Review

Rich S

Spike Lee had high aspirations in this film. It's supposed to give us world peace and jobs for everybody by the time the final accord is signed. It's a great dream and one we must have thought at some point was shared by all. But it's fairly evident now that it isn't and it wasn't.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

04/23/21

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Spike Lee

Director

Nick Cannon

Chi-Raq

Wesley Snipes

Cyclops

Teyonah Parris

Lysistrata

Jennifer Hudson

Irene

Steve Harris

Ole Duke

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Chi-Raq: Trailer 1

2:31

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Lori Ro

Bitch Media

Messy and nauseating.

Feb 9, 2021

Full Review

Adam Nayman

The Ringer

Everything about Chi-Raq exudes exuberance: the movement of the camera; the West Side Story-style choreography of the two rival factions; the delight the actors display in tearing into their dialogue.

Aug 9, 2018

Full Review

K. Austin Collins

Los Angeles Review of Books

This is no mere thought experiment. Can satire stop a bullet? Likely not. But it can provoke those of us who haven't, and can.

Aug 9, 2017

Full Review

Jeffrey Peterson

Indie Film Minute

Viewers have criticized Spike’s film because of the director’s more recent turn away from commercial film, but I sense that he finds that the violent world around us cannot be ignored.

Sep 1, 2023

Full Review

Jordan Brooks

Vague Visages

Profoundly funny, shocking, sad and ultimately inspiring, Spike Lee’s Chi-Raq is the rude awakening that America needs to get it together...

Aug 1, 2023

Full Review

Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

It's one of Lee's most accomplished and effective films in years.

Rated: 4/4

Apr 23, 2022

Full Review

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Synopsis

The girlfriend (Teyonah Parris) of a Chicago gang leader (Nick Cannon) persuades other frustrated women to abstain from sex until their men agree to end the senseless cycle of violence.

Director: Spike Lee
Executive Producer: Jon Kilik, Kevin Willmott
Screenwriter: Kevin Willmott, Spike Lee
Distributor: Roadside Attractions
Production Co: 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, Amazon Studios
Rating: R (Language|Drug Use|Strong Sexual Dialogue|Nudity|Some Violence|Strong Sexual Content)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 4, 2015, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 4, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $2.6M
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital

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