Traffic Stop

The police in the US have been under a microscope recently after some high-profile, racially charged incidents. This issue is brilliantly examined in Traffic Stop, as 26-year-old teacher Breaion King comes under attack from the people she’s meant to trust.

This film incorporates dramatic re-enactments with interviews and actual police camera footage that tell a harrowing tale of survival and how being pulled over for a minor traffic infraction can turn into a bloody beatdown and physical assault.

Breaion’s story isn’t an isolated incident. No matter which way you want to play it, the cops in the video go out of their way to exert power and domination over someone who didn’t deserve it, says Hank Stuever at washingtonpost.com: “There’s a futility that gnaws at the viewer’s conscience. Could King have handled herself differently? Perhaps. Could Richter? Certainly. What should have been a routine encounter has instead left a deep emotional wound.”