The Inspection

2022 1h 35m EN

😐

6.1

MID

🍅

88%

FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

6.7

IMDB

★6.1TMDB · 92🍅88%Rotten Tomatoes●73Metacritic★6.7IMDB · 6,310

Drama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Ellis French is a young, gay Black man, rejected by his mother and with few options for his future, decides to join the Marines, doing whatever it takes to succeed in a system that would cast him aside. But even as he battles deep-seated prejudice and the grueling routines of basic training, he finds unexpected camaraderie, strength, and support in this new community, giving him a hard-earned sense of belonging that will shape his identity and forever change his life.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Jeremy Pope
Ellis French
Gabrielle Union
Inez French
Bokeem Woodbine
Laws
Raúl Castillo
Rosales
McCaul Lombardi
Harvey
Nicholas Logan
Brooks
Eman Esfandi
Ismail
Aaron Dominguez
Castro

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Elegance Bratton
Writers: Elegance Bratton
Languages: English, Spanish, Arabic
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 4 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 3 languages: English, Spanish, Arabic.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Elegance Bratton, shot by Lachlan Milne. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Avey Tare. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Oriana Soddu shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Jeremy Pope and Gabrielle Union and Bokeem Woodbine carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt13495458 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

Only 92 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Elegance Bratton directs. Lachlan Milne behind the camera. Avey Tare scores. Oriana Soddu cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, Spanish, Arabic.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 4 years ago.
2Dialogue crosses 3 languages: English, Spanish, Arabic.
3Directed by Elegance Bratton, shot by Lachlan Milne. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Avey Tare. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Oriana Soddu shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Jeremy Pope and Gabrielle Union and Bokeem Woodbine carry the top of the cast.
7IMDB entry: tt13495458 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Only 92 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
9Classified under 10 themes, including "friendship", "homophobia", "marine", "lgbt".

The technical file

Cinematography: Lachlan Milne
Original score: Avey Tare
Editing: Oriana Soddu
Production design: Tommy Love
Makeup / hair: Charlotte Orlove
VFX supervisor: Nicolaus Waetjen
Sound: Coll Anderson
Runtime: 95 min · 1h 35m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Box office: $270,613
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: The Inspection (2022)
Rotten Tomatoes: 88% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 73/100
IMDB rating: 6.7/10 · 6,310 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

13 wins & 31 nominations total

Also by

Elegance Bratton

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2023-02-25
★ 7/10
"French" (Jeremy Pope) is an itinerant gay man who, estranged from his prison office mother "Inez" (Gabrielle Union), has concluded that the only way to stop himself becoming subsumed into an underworld of drugs, disease and most likely death, is to join the US Marines. Having failed at just about everything else, his mother is somewhat sceptical, but to bootcamp he goes where he encounters the stereotypically brutish gunnery sergeant-major "Laws" (Bokeem Woodbine). It's all based on a true story directed and adapted from his own story by Elegance Bratton, so jeopardy here there isn't. That said, Pope and Woodbine are both on good form as the former runs the gamut of a tough training regime coupled with a prejudice against his sexuality that proves distinctly dangerous. His trainer offers him nothing by way of support or sympathy, intent on instilling the most primitive of "survival of the fittest" mentalities amongst all of his recruits. It is a little procedural, but it's still an interesting tale from a man who resisted the temptations to jack it all in - and sends a clear message of perseverance and determination that does resonate to a certain, predictable, extent. Essentially, though, it's a television movie that doesn't really need a cinema screening and though watchable and important, it isn't a story that will linger in the memory for long afterwards, I'm afraid.

Production companies