GATES, THE
(director/writer: John Burr; cinematographer: Ray Huang; editor: Daysha Broadway; music: Jongnic Bontemps; cast: Mason Gooding (Derek), Algee Smith (Kevin), Keith Powers (Tyon), James Van Der Beek (Jacob), Sofia Hublitz (Roxy), Kyir Coffman (Officer Bobby), Elle Evans (Elizabeth), Brad Leland (Christopher); Runtime: 98; MPAA Rating: R; producers: Gary Glushon, Ross Kohn, Nancy Leopardi; Lionsgate; 2026)
“Racially-charged thriller.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
John Burr (“Muse”/”Legend of the Muse”) is the writer-director for this racially-charged thriller about a respected pastor, a pillar of the community, who turns out to be a psycho killer. James Van Der Beek in a dazzling cartoonish performance plays against type the villain Jacob in his final film, after his recent untimely death.
Jacob lives in a secluded wealthy gated community of whites only in Texas’s Bible Belt, Creekville Hills. He kills a drunken blond woman by hitting her over the head. Three Black men trapped behind the locked gates witness the murder when the vic opened the gates for them to enter before being killed.
The Black men were caught in a highway traffic jam as they were in a rush to get to a college party and thought they were taking a short-cut by entering the gated residence.
The Black riders, childhood friends from the city, are the injury-plagued college football player Tyon (Keith Powers), the trusting the authorities if you obey the rules aspiring lawyer Kevin (Algee Smith), and the wild party-boy car salesman Derek (Mason Gooding).
The white resident security officer (Kyir Coffman) and some bigoted local white residents assume the killers were the young Black men and go after them.
The slight plot takes us only so far, but the unsubtle and provocative film still manages to be timely, unnerving and mostly a realistic take on America’s sometimes disturbing racial climate even if it’s heavy-handed and exaggerated. It’s a catchy film that’s not that good nor that bad, but was never boring, was competently made and was well-acted.
REVIEWED ON 3/21/2026 GRADE: B-
dennisschwartzreviews.com