Over a directorial career which has lasted over 30 years, Spike Lee has adhered to his own way of doing things. Often it works out well, but on some occasions his projects leads to divisiveness among those that have seen the movies. Through his creativity, controversy often follows. Not being one to beat around the bush, Lee tends to push the buttons of those both for and against whatever message he’s attempting to relay. And it is with all of the chatter that surrounds his presence that makes him so compelling.

Whenever it’s reported that Spike Lee is working on something new, instinctively people start to wonder what’s going down this time. And this is a good thing, both for Lee from a success perspective, but also from an intellectually informative standpoint. You WILL come away from his movies having learned a thing or two. It’s now time to find out what the new lesson will be from seeing BlacKkKlansman.

Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) has aspirations of becoming a police officer and he doesn’t care where he’s to be assigned. Being an African-American, it was a no-brainer to take advantage of a generous offer he received up interviewing, especially considering the locale (Colorado Springs) and the era (1970s), he would be getting his wish. His hiring was strictly meant to slightly curb racial tension but it is still an opportunity to make change. Relegated to office grunt work and boredom, Ron is sent into the field to spy on various Black Panther gatherings. While gathering intel, Ron meets a lovely lady by the name of Patricia (Laura Harrier) and she gives him more to ponder than he anticipates.

On a silly whim, Ron places a random call to a number that is seeking potential candidates who might be interested in learning more about the Ku Klux Klan. To his surprise, as well as anyone else in earshot, the person on the other end was interested in what Ron had to say and pursued further communication. Pretending to be something you’re not on the phone is one thing, but meeting in person would be, for obvious reasons, a deal breaker. He convinces his superiors that this was an opportunity worth exploring to root out certain unsavory characters, but they would need to come up with a plan for in-person interaction. Enter fellow officer Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver). Flip has the desired physical appearance so the plan is greenlit to infiltrate the KKK. Using Ron’s charisma on the phone and Flip’s acceptable skin tone, the pair set out to take this arm of the KKK down from the inside. BlacKkKlansman begins to take shapes as all sides are approaching a head-on collision.

Spike Lee thrives in situations like this, and now with the U.S. being a virtual hotbed of racial tension, many would argue that right now is the time to focus on impactful works such as BlacKkKlansman. There are no shortage of racially charged selections available for audiences to sample these days. Just do a quick look at what’s been released over the last few weeks alone and you’ll see what I mean. Lee rides the social relevance for all that it’s worth as, once again, history seems to be repeating itself. John David Washington gives a very solid performance as the star. His performance here should open many doors for other top roles. Adam Driver, Laura Harrier, Ryan Eggold, Topher Grace and even Alec Baldwin’s brief, but memorable appearance, prove that Spike Lee knows how to bring many parts together to help bring his vision to life.

Blessed with the story that even Hollywood couldn’t dream up, Spike Lee was given an incredible story in which he could bring to life. Ron Stallworth’s memoir, Black Klansman: Race, Hate, and the Undercover Investigation of a Lifetime is worth checking out as well, if for nothing else than to see that this isn’t some made up Hollywood story. BlacKkKlansman brings a heated topic into the light for all to see. And while it’s for entertainment purposes mostly, there are moments where there’s some deep realizations happening and audiences will be both enlightened and educated. By the end of this crazy 135 minute story, audiences will be left with a lot to ponder. Definitely check this one out in theaters.