Parents' Guide to

Bushwick

By Jeffrey M. Anderson, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 16+

Brutally violent, frighteningly relevant invasion thriller.

Movie NR 2017 94 minutes
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What's the Story?

In BUSHWICK, Lucy (Brittany Snow) and her boyfriend, Jose (Arturo Castro), step off the train on their way home from college to visit Lucy's grandmother. The subway station is mysteriously deserted, and then a man engulfed in flames runs by. Peeking out on the street, they discover that something terrible is going on: an invasion/attack led by people from "red" states that want to secede from the country. Jose is burned alive, and Lucy is shot at by mysterious figures in black. Running from the scene of an execution, she ducks into someone's home; that someone turns out to be former military man/medic Stupe (Dave Bautista). Using Stupe's weapons and knowhow, Lucy hopes to survive the handful of city blocks between her and her grandmother's house. But after that, can they all get out of the city alive?

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say Not yet rated
Kids say (2 ):

An intensely physical, adrenaline-propelled experience -- with touching, vivid depictions of human connection, pain, and fear -- this thriller about a full-scale invasion is terrifyingly timely. Shot, like Rope, Russian Ark, Silent House, Birdman, and Victoria, in what appears to be one continuous, unbroken take (although "hidden" cuts are easy to spot), Bushwick plunges viewers into a street-level experience. Running alongside the characters, it's impossible to know what's around any corner, or what could jump through a door at any second.

Directed by Cary Murnion and Jonathan Milott (whose distasteful Cooties never would have suggested they could produce anything this good), the camerawork in Bushwick is startlingly clear and intuitive, suggesting a human's point of view, rather than a shaking camera's. It must have taken an impressive level of choreography and timing. That also goes for stars Snow and Bautista, who turn in athletic, full-blooded performances under great duress. Doing away with any foreign bad guys or greedy corporate types, this movie fits squarely into our current times; it is, very simply, about the deep, seemingly insurmountable divide between America's "red" and "blue" ideologies. Yet the heroes are squarely on the side of compassion and common sense.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about Bushwick's violence. How does the movie use violence to make its point? Does it ever seem too strong or gratuitous? What's the impact of media violence on kids?

  • Talk about the divide between "red" and "blue" states. What do those designations refer to? What separates the two groups? How does this movie take the existing conflict and run with it?

  • What are the attackers' beliefs? Where are they from? What's the significance of that? How does it relate to real life?

  • How would you describe the relationship between Lucy and her "sister"? What does this relationship show about both of them?

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