In the Heat of the Night (1967)
This cop mystery film follows Black city detective Virgil Tibbs, who ends up in Mississippi during an especially fraught time for racial tensions across the American South. He becomes the unlikely detective working on a murder investigation, having to put up with discrimination and side-eye from other cops and locals. The characters are visibly sweating in the film, and the heat is as palpable as the scrutiny Tibbs has to endure.
The year the film was released, the U.S. experienced over 100 riots. It eventually became known as the “long, hot summer” full of anger at injustice and poverty for communities of color—but especially for Black Americans. Cities like Detroit and Newark saw some of the worst of the violence.
