The 24th

I don't know why I didn't expect much from this, maybe been disappointed too much recently, but it is an extremely well done film, that pulls you in and gets you interested from the start.

The performances were powerful, the calibre of the acting outstanding.

A poignant film for the times, especially with everything going on at the moment in regards to race.

Well worth the watch.

I've lived here my entire life, and I've never heard of this. This story timely and relevant to the citizens of Houston who care about black history and uncovering the many incidents of racial injustice in Houston. For those that agree with all facets of black history being highlighted or expounded upon, this is jewel of a movie.

Some more of the ugly truth of white American history and nothing much has changed as far as policing. This was a great portrayal of the actual events that took place during the Houston riot on Aug. 23, 1917.

This was an excellent movie. It did a good job of showing the struggles African Americans endured.

Back on my run of watching all the films available on Sky Movies in alphabetical order. The next was "The 24th", a film that I'm assuming went straight to streaming, due to Covid. I wasn't sure what to expect from the story, and my expectations were turned on my head at the start of the third act.

In the early part of the twentieth century, the twenty fourth regiment of the United States Army is not sent to fight in Europe, instead they are building an army training facility on the outskirts of Houston, Texas. The regiment is made entirely of black soldiers, with the exception of the officers. Unfortunately, their uniform does not increase their station in the eyes of many of the surrounding community, and the men face racist abuse outside and within their camp. One night, in 1917, following a particularly grave incident, the situation boils over in tragic circumstances.

I felt this film, whilst with good performances, felt a little "TV movie" to score higher. I suppose what I mean by that is that what I assume was a relatively low budget, didn't stretch to make an entirely convincing military base, rather than just a few tents. I had, perhaps naively, assumed that we were going to see the regiment earn they superiors respect and be sent to the front line, or at least we'd see the films main character, Cpl Boston played by Trai Byers (who also wrote the film) progress somehow. Instead, events take a much darker turn and the actions of the soldiers doesn't feel like (at least within the confines of the story the film tells) a proportional response to what they believed had occurred that night. It was a jarring twist and not entirely believable, given the personalities of the men we'd met thus far, even if it is based on a true story.

I wasn't aware of the Houston riot of 1917 at all. In the last few years it has fallen to films and TV to provide some of those missing history lessons, such as the Tulsa race massacre, that would happen a few years later. Sadly in the century since this happened, situations like this haven't become a thing of the past entirely and the films relevancy is still pointed.