Released: December 4, 2015
Story: Told through rhyme, this re-imagining of Aristophanes’s comedic Greek play Lysistrata moves the story to the modern day Chicago Southside. Nicknamed Chi-Raq by the inhabitants, the Southside is home to high records of gun violence, which rivals the number of soldiers being killed abroad. To stop the violence brought on by two warring gangs, our heroine Lysistrata (played by Teyonah Parris) bans together the women of the community (even the hookers, strippers, and phone sex operators) to put an end to it all. Her solution is to cut all the men off from sex until there is peace. Her boyfriend, a rapper nicknamed Chi-Raq (played by Nick Cannon), is one of the gang leaders and isn’t too keen to end the battle between him and the other gang leader played by Wesley Snipes. Determined to create peace, the women will go to any lengths to get the issue more media and governmental attention and to convince the men to lay down their guns. The men are also determined, however, to stop what they think is a ridiculous strike and to go back to their violent and drug filled way of life.
The Cinematic Packrat 