TRUST NO ONE, DC PREMIERE

DC Noir

GEORGE PELECANOS, GBENGA AKINNAGBE, NICK PELECANOS, STEPHEN KINIGOPOULOS
USA, 2018
93 minutes, Color
Official website

In Person: Director George Pelecanos

DC Noir is an anthology of four stories written by D.C. novelist George Pelecanos and set in the Washington neighborhoods Hollywood cameras never film. From the evocative title sequence, the film rewards viewers who have long put up with films supposedly set here but actually filmed elsewhere. Using an all-local crew, DC Noir proudly displays D.C.'s trademark row houses, local diners, and bookstores and showcases go-go superstars Backyard Band (Fugazi member Brendan Canty did the score). A writer-producer on HBO's The Wire, Pelecanos brings some of that show's gritty realism to DC Noir, where even good decisions can have bad consequences. Pelecanos directs the first story, about a hit man falling in love. Pelecanos son, Nicholas, shows great promise with the well-observed Miss Mary's Room, following young kids drawn into the drug game. The Wire's Gbenga Akinnagbe and Baltimore's Stephen Kinigopoulos ably direct the other two stories. —Dave Nuttycombe