Synopsis
New York City, the 80s. Someone's killing gay men in the city's S&M/leather districts. A fresh, young, straight-laced cop, played by Al Pacino, is dispatched undercover into this very alien faction of society in order to act as a decoy for the killer's next victim and potentially catch the killer himself. His work takes soon begins to take a mental toll on both himself and those around him as he grows more and more emotionally isolated from those he knows.
Black Maria presents William Friedkin's most controversial and contentious film with an exclusive intro by critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas.
New York City, the 80s. Someone's killing gay men in the city's S&M/leather districts. A fresh, young, straight-laced cop, played by Al Pacino, is dispatched undercover into this very alien faction of society in order to act as a decoy for the killer's next victim and potentially catch the killer himself. His work takes soon begins to take a mental toll on both himself and those around him as he grows more and more emotionally isolated from those he knows.
William Friedkin's 1980 thriller CRUISING is a dark, grimy, uncompromising look at a time in America right on the cusp of the AIDS crisis, highlighting law enforcement's ignorance towards and discriminatory treatment of queer people.
Introduced by film critic, author, and scholar Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, CRUISING is a polarizing film that was despised on its initial release, and continues to divide audiences to this very day.