HBO's Yusuf Hawkins: Storm Over Brooklyn is a timely, essential watch

Mashable

Director Muta'Ali's documentary explores the 1989 killing of 16-year-old Black teenager Yusuf Hawkins in the Italian-American neighborhood of Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. "Weaving together news coverage of the attack and the sprawling protests that followed with recent interviews from Hawkins' surviving family members and other pivotal figures in the case, Storm Over Brooklyn revisits Hawkins' murder through the lens of the many others like it," says Alison Foreman. "Yes, we are provided with ample explanation of the specifics in this incident — witnesses recount their experiences as newly rendered graphics map out where the attack took place — but it's the insidious tendrils of Hawkins' senseless murder that make the project especially impactful." ALSO: Storm Over Brooklyn is a frustrating documentary that isn't particularly comprehensive or insightful.