Movie review
December 25, 2016 · 129 min · R
Woke Score
Lower is better
Review
Live by Night is a 2016 Prohibition-era crime drama about Boston gangster Joe Coughlin who relocates to Florida to run a rum empire and clashes with rivals and the local Ku Klux Klan. Written and directed by Ben Affleck from Dennis Lehane’s novel, it includes an interracial romance and shows the KKK targeting the hero over his marriage and diverse workforce. These elements stay tied to the 1920s story world as business and personal obstacles rather than modern activist messaging or lectures.
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Live by Night.
Woke representation / casting
Interracial lead romance and visible non-white supporting roles in Ybor City business fit the historical diverse setting and story premise without audience-visible forcing or mismatches.
Woke political dialogue
Brief mentions of bigotry as plot obstacles only; no extended speeches, modern framing, or activist language.
Identity-driven story themes
KKK conflict centers on opposition to interracial marriage and non-white hiring, but it functions as personal/business threat in the 1920s gangster world rather than celebration of identity or equity messaging.
Western institutional / cultural critique
Shows KKK violence, religious hypocrisy, and crime-world betrayal as era-specific problems; no reframing into current critiques of patriarchy, capitalism, whiteness, or Western norms.
Production
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant. The film adapts Lehane’s novel without reported ideological alterations to characters or events.
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
No notable backlash or complaints treating the film as pushing woke or identity content; coverage stayed on artistic and commercial shortcomings.
Creator track record context
Ben Affleck supported inclusion riders and faced past identity-politics criticism, while Leonardo DiCaprio is an environmental activist; these do not strongly influence this period crime story or its marketing, and other crew show no such patterns.
