Ann Atwater is a poor black mother and community activist in Durham, North Carolina. In 1971, she fights to protect black children after a fire damages their school and white leaders resist desegregation. Her enemy is C.P. Ellis, a local Ku Klux Klan leader who wants to keep the schools separate. A court-backed community meeting forces them to work together, and the movie uses a serious but hopeful tone as their anger slowly changes.
Race and school integration shape the main story. The film shows racist threats, Klan meetings, racial slurs, and arguments over whether black children should enter a white school. Ann is shown as a forceful leader who challenges white officials, while C.P. receives a long redemption story in which he rejects the Klan and accepts integration. The movie strongly favors racial equality and interracial cooperation, but it presents those ideas through a 1971 civil rights event rather than a current identity campaign.
Community feedback
Was our 40% Woke rating accurate?
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for The Best of Enemies.
Woke representation / casting
Not present. The leading black and white roles match the real people in the story. The movie does not present the casting as a modern diversity statement.
0%
Woke political dialogue
The film uses repeated arguments about school integration, equal rights, and whether black children should attend white schools. Ann challenges white officials and demands action for black families. The charrette uses terms such as liberals, conservatives, and diverse people. C.P.'s final speech rejects the belief that black people are inferior, but the message belongs to the 1971 civil-rights setting rather than modern DEI language.
40%
Identity-driven story themes
The film centers on race, segregation, and the different treatment of black and white families. Ann fights for black children and challenges a local system that keeps schools apart. C.P.'s main story is leaving white supremacy after working with Ann and seeing the harm caused by his beliefs. The movie strongly favors racial equality and interracial cooperation, but it presents those ideas through a real historical event.
50%
Western institutional / cultural critique
Not present. The film shows racist Klan members and white local officials resisting school integration. It treats that conflict as part of the 1971 story, not as a modern attack on Western institutions, capitalism, Christianity, or family life.
0%
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant. The film changes some story details for drama, including the way Ann and C.P. begin to trust each other. It does not change the race, sex, or public roles of the real people at its center.
0%
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Not present. No anti-woke or right-leaning backlash was found. Reviews and Reddit posts criticized the film for giving C.P. too much depth and using a white-savior pattern, but those complaints were not anti-woke complaints. The separate X pass found no anti-woke posts, boycotts, or review-bombing.
0%
Creator track record context
The creator record is mixed, with stored scores ranging from 0 to 56. Osha Gray Davidson has recurring work about race, class, poverty, and human rights. Dominique Telson has a stronger history of creating opportunities for minority filmmakers. Most of the wider team has mainstream or production-focused experience.
24%
Production
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