14th

DuVernay has said she did not want the movie to “feel like medicine,” and the “14th” is energetic, accessible and frequently entertaining. But in casting such a wide net, the film overloads the viewer with information to the point of suffocation.

“14th,” I’m pleased to report, exerts the same kind of historical/topical force that “13th” did. DuVernay, while she works in an extremely accessible and mainstream way, has a singular gift for making the nuances of history come alive.

Like its predecessor, 14th is powered by well-earned rage; also like its predecessor, it’s more a history lesson and a model of carefully composed rhetoric than a screed.

Inevitably, 14th is didactic -- a history lesson, if you will, but the kind every American should experience if they want to continue living under a form of government of the people, by the people, and for the people.