The Interrupters review

Comparable in scope and scholarship to David Simon’s ‘Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets’, but taking a radically different perspective than that account of the Baltimore Police Department, The Interrupters documents 12 months in the life of CeaseFire, a Chicago-based violence prevention unit that intercedes at street level in the city’s murderous gang disputes.

Channelling the narrative impact of The Wire, the political and racial dynamics of Street Fight, and an emotional weight derived from a complete engagement with the lives of its many protagonists, The Interrupters is timely, necessary and, for much of its two hours and 20 minutes run time, devastating.

If the work of director Steve James (and his editor Aaron Wickenden) seems heroic, it’s as nothing compared to the ‘interrupters’ themselves. Drawn from former gang members and ex-felons (in one meeting, it’s suggested that there’s over 500 years of prison time in the room), their job is to be present on the streets of Englewood and other notorious neighbourhoods in Chicago’s South Side, getting in the middle of situations that are threatening to turn violent.

It’s hugely dangerous – at least one interrupter was shot during the making of the film – but these aren’t your average charity workers. The star of the show is undoubtedly Ameena Matthews, daughter of Jeff Fort, a man described as Chicago’s biggest gang boss since Al Capone.

Matthews emerged from the ‘game’ after being shot herself, and now shows astonishing courage to dissuade others from following her path. Her bravery in situations that could have been ripped straight from something by the Hughes brothers is extraordinary. But she’s just one of a cast of inspirational characters that includes some of the gang members themselves.

Though at times the attitude of both the kids on the streets and the politicians in office will put your head in your hands, the great strength of The Interrupters is its positivity – its belief in a better future. It trades in that most fickle of currencies: hope.