Film Review – The Gates

Writer/director John Burr tries to mix elements of headline news and B-movie thrills in “The Gates.” It’s a study of racial tension inside a gated community, but Burr doesn’t have any real investment in a nuanced understanding of tensions. He’s making more of a blunt instrument with the picture, but one that holds attention with its gripping set-up and understanding of threat. “The Gates” backs off from anxious moments at the midway point of the feature, but Burr manages some successful scenes of shock and confrontation, playing with the rough edges of bigotry and exclusion to feed a partially kinetic offering. It’s definitely not a film that’s trying to make sense of hatred, instead using it to power a mostly effective exercise in suspense and plot turns, which Burr handles to the best of his ability. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com