Kathryn Bigelow Says ‘Detroit’ is Her Most “Misunderstood” Film

In 2017, Kathryn Bigelow was coming off back-to-back Oscar juggernauts, “The Hurt Locker” and “Zero Dark Thirty,” both acclaimed and both raising expectations sky high for her next film.

“Detroit” starred John Boyega, Will Poulter, and Anthony Mackie. It was a box office failure, earning only $23M worldwide, and received reviews far removed from the acclaim she had garnered with her two previous films. Clearly, its failure still stings for Bigelow, who did not make another film for eight years afterward.

According to Bigelow, when asked during a THR roundtable, “Detroit” is her “most misunderstood” film and didn’t deserve its fate.

It was such an important piece to me. This horrible tragedy. I don’t know, I think it was just kind of misunderstood

James Cameron, who happens to be her ex-husband and was sitting next to her at the roundtable, agreed:

People should really take a look at Detroit

And both filmmakers would somewhat be right: it was a good film — a viscerally intense, overwhelmingly focused depiction of the Algiers Motel incident during the 1967 Detroit riots, especially gripping in its 90-minute centerpiece, and only hampered by Bigelow’s lack of subtlety and narrative balance in the final stretch. The film didn’t need to be 144 minutes.

In that same interview, Cameron mentions how Bigelow’s “Strange Days,” which he produced and co-wrote, is her most underrated film — and that I fully agree with. One of the most prescient and ambitious sci-fi thrillers of the 1990s.

I would have chosen Strange Days. People didn't go, they didn't come to theaters even though it's a great movie, I love it and I'm very proud of it.

And quite honestly, there are a handful of underrated gems in Bigelow’s filmography. Another great one would be “Near Dark,” a raw, genre-bending vampire film that blends horror and neo-Western, anchored by a feral, unforgettable performance from the late, great Bill Paxton — and an eerie Tangerine Dream score. This one was way ahead of today’s prestige-horror movement.