Netflix quietly adds ‘masterpiece’ film that should be ‘required viewing’

Netflix fans are urging people to watch a movie based on a remarkable true story that stars Tenet's John David Washington.

From Bridgerton to Frankenstein and from His & Hers to Stranger Things, Netflix has been hitting it out of the park lately.

And now the streamer has quietly added a film from 2018 that plenty of people say should be ‘required viewing’.

Directed by Spike Lee, BlacKkKlansman had six nominations at the Oscars (it won Best Adapted Screenplay) and was also listed as one of the top 10 films that year.

The ‘masterpiece’ of a movie is loosely based on Ron Stallworth’s 2014 memoir Black Klansman.

You can watch the trailer here (warning, it does contain racism and some mild swearing):

The film follows Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) as the first African-American detective to serve in the Colorado Springs Police Department back in the 70s. And he takes on a dangerous mission to infiltrate and expose the Ku Klux Klan.

The cop recruits the more seasoned Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver) to go undercover as the pair plan to take down the extremist hate group.

BlacKkKlansman also stars Laura Harrier, Topher Grace as well as being Harry Belafonte’s last performance before he passed away.

It boasts an impressive 96 percent critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, as well as an 83 percent audience score.

People wrote that they were ‘on the edge of their seat’, as others called it ‘the best Spike Lee movie ever since Inside Man’.

Another said: “Brilliantly exploring fresh facets of an oft-adapted topic, BlacKkKlansman gleefully subverts and builds upon preexisting ideas of racial conflict, hierarchy, structure, and that unnameable thing that makes people tick to present a wholly fulfilling, surprisingly fun, and deeply human based-on-a-true-story adaptation.”

The movie is regarded as a 'masterpiece' (Focus Features)

With one writing: “So moving and so compelling. It's as relevant today as the time in which the story was set. If you think history can't repeat itself, think again.”

“Great movie. Should be shown in high school,” another said.

Over on Letterboxd, one called it the ‘film of the year’.

“A powerful, horrifying & scathingly funny masterpiece,” they wrote.

However, others did not find the ‘comedy’ funny and while it was ‘well-made’, they said ‘it just didn’t quite engage me’.

Another said: “It's surprisingly too subtle in its message at times. Not as good as I was hoping.”