Movie review
August 14, 2020 · 113 min · R
Woke Score
Lower is better
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Project Power.
Woke representation / casting
Prominent Black leads and diverse supporting cast fit New Orleans setting and story logic naturally; no evident identity signaling or mismatched casting.
Woke political dialogue
A few lines reference systemic issues for Black youth and women or historical exploitation; delivered as character background rather than overt lectures.
Identity-driven story themes
Core focuses on family loyalty, personal trauma, and stopping crime; light class-based exploitation subplot but not centered on modern identity politics.
Western institutional / cultural critique
Corporate scientists as villains exploiting vulnerable communities echoes real history lightly; presented as thriller plot without activist reframing of Western institutions or norms.
Review
Project Power is a 2020 Netflix action film set in near-future New Orleans. An ex-soldier, a teenage drug dealer, and a local cop team up to stop the spread of a mysterious pill that grants users random superpowers for five minutes. The story focuses on personal family struggles, trauma, and street-level crime-fighting, with occasional background references to systemic obstacles facing young Black characters and historical medical experiments on vulnerable communities.
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Isolated fringe online comments accuse it of SJW pandering or BLM messaging, but no significant social media campaigns, major news stories, or broad audience complaints.
Creator track record context
Key creatives show consistent focus on genre entertainment and thrillers with no patterns of identity-driven, DEI, or activist-themed projects or public statements.
Production
