''Dope'' is a 2015 American

coming-of-age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can be ...

comedy-drama film Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

written and directed by

Rick Famuyiwa Rick Famuyiwa (born June 18, 1973) is an American director, producer and screenwriter of productions including '' The Wood'' (1999), ''Brown Sugar'' (2002), '' Talk to Me'' (2007), '' Dope'' (2015), and ''Confirmation'' (2016). His films have be ...

and produced by

Forest Whitaker Forest Steven Whitaker (born July 15, 1961) is an American actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a British Academy Film Award, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. After making his f ...

and

Nina Yang Bongiovi Nina Yang Bongiovi is a BAFTA nominated, Asian American film producer, with extensive experience in creative development, film finance and physical production. In 2009, she partnered with actor Forest Whitaker to create Significant Productions; t ...

. It stars

Shameik Moore Shameik Alti Moore (born May 4, 1995) is an American actor, singer, and rapper. He is best known for voicing Miles Morales / Spider-Man in the film '' Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse'' and its upcoming sequels. Life and career Moore was bor ...

Tony Revolori Anthony Revolori ( Quiñonez; born April 28, 1996) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Zero Moustafa in ''The Grand Budapest Hotel'' (2014), for which he was nominated for numerous acting awards, and Flash Thompson in the Marv ...

Kiersey Clemons Kiersey Nicole Clemons (born December 17, 1993) is an American actress. She is known for her role in the 2015 comedy-drama film '' Dope'', playing Cassandra "Diggy" Andrews. Subsequently, she went on to co-star in '' Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising ...

Kimberly Elise Kimberly Elise Trammel (born April 17, 1967) is an American film and television actress. She made her feature film debut in '' Set It Off'' (1996), and later received critical acclaim for her performance in '' Beloved'' (1998). During her career, ...

Chanel Iman Chanel Iman Robinson (formerly Shepard) (born December 1, 1990) is an American model best known for her work as a Victoria's Secret Angel. ''Vogue Paris'' declared her as one of the top 30 models of the 2000s. Early life Iman was born in Atlan ...

Tyga Michael Ray Nguyen-StevensonMicheal Ray Stevenson ...

, Blake Anderson,

Zoë Kravitz Zoë Isabella Kravitz (born December 1, 1988) is an American actress, singer, and model. She made her acting debut in the romantic comedy film '' No Reservations'' (2007). Her breakthrough came with portraying Angel Salvadore in the superhero fi ...

, and

ASAP Rocky Rakim Athelaston Mayers (born October 3, 1988), known professionally as ASAP Rocky ( ; stylized as A$AP Rocky), is an American rapper, music producer and record executive. Born and raised in Harlem, he embarked on his musical career as a membe ...

. The film was also executive produced by

Pharrell Williams Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973) is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. Alongside close colleague Chad Hugo, he formed the hip hop and R&B production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom h ...

and co-executive produced by

Sean Combs Sean Combs (born Sean John Combs; November 4, 1969), also known by his stage names Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Puffy, or Diddy, is an American rapper, actor, record producer, and record executive. Born in New York City, he worked as a talent directo ...

. The film premiered at the

2015 Sundance Film Festival The 2015 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 22 to February 1, 2015. '' What Happened, Miss Simone?'', a biographical documentary film about American singer Nina Simone, opened the festival. Comedy-drama film '' Grandma'', directed by ...

on January 24, 2015 in Park City, Utah and was released in North America on June 19 by

Open Road Films Open Road Films, LLC (formerly Global Road Entertainment from 2017 to 2018) is an American film production and distribution company based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded by Eric Hohl on March 26, 2011 as a joint venture between the t ...

. It was re-released on September 4 during the

Labor Day Labor Day is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday in September to honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements of the United St ...

holiday weekend. The film received positive reviews and was a moderate commercial success, grossing $18 million over a $7 million budget.

Plot

Malcolm Adekanbi and his best friends, Jib and Diggy, are high school "

geek The word ''geek'' is a slang term originally used to describe eccentric or non-mainstream people; in current use, the word typically connotes an expert or enthusiast obsessed with a hobby or intellectual pursuit. In the past, it had a general ...

s" living in "The Bottoms," a high-crime neighborhood in

Inglewood, California Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 107,762. It was incorporated on February 14, 1908. The city is in the South Bay ...

. They idolize 90's hip hop music and fashion. Malcolm is confident he will be admitted to his dream school,

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

, but his

school counselor A school counselor is a professional who works in primary (elementary and middle) schools or secondary schools to provide academic, career, college access/affordability/admission, and social-emotional competencies to all students through a school ...

is skeptical and suggests he take an interview with local businessman and Harvard alumnus, Austin Jacoby. While biking home, Malcolm is stopped by Dom, a drug dealer who instructs him to invite a girl named Nakia to his party. Malcolm charms Nakia, who tells him she will only accept if Malcolm goes as well. Jib and Diggy accompany Malcolm to the party, where Dom’s purchase of high-grade, powdered molly is interrupted by an armed gang, and several people are shot. Malcolm escapes as the police arrive, unaware that Dom has hidden the drugs and a gun in his backpack. Nakia drives Malcolm home, and he offers to help her with her GED. The next day, Malcolm discovers the drugs, gun, and an iPhone. An unknown caller reveals that he knows Malcolm's identity and instructs him to turn over the drugs. After school, Malcolm prepares to hand over the drugs when he receives a call from Dom, in custody, who tells Malcolm not to give the drugs to the other caller. He texts Malcolm an address and tells him to ask for AJ. Malcolm, Jib and Diggy flee to the address, chased by the unknown caller, and are greeted by Jaleel and his sister Lily. Since AJ, their father, isn't home, Jaleel invites them inside their mansion and takes Jib and Diggy out for food, while Lily seduces Malcolm, finds the drugs and takes a heavy dose. Intoxicated, Lily passes out while driving Malcolm to his interview before urinating on a bush while bystanders record, and Malcolm drives her car to the meeting himself. Arriving at Jacoby's office, he notices photos of Dom, Lily, and Jaleel and realizes Jacoby is AJ. Malcolm relays Dom's instructions to Jacoby, who denies any knowledge and implies that the contents of the bag are now Malcolm's responsibility. Jacoby reschedules the interview, warning Malcolm that if he has not sold the drugs by then, he will not receive Jacoby’s recommendation to Harvard. Malcolm, Jib and Diggy seek help from hacker Will Sherwood, who sets up an online black-market website to sell the drugs through

Bitcoin Bitcoin (abbreviation: BTC; sign: ₿) is a decentralized digital currency that can be transferred on the peer-to-peer bitcoin network. Bitcoin transactions are verified by network nodes through cryptography and recorded in a public distr ...

transactions, which soon goes viral. The three friends enroll in a

Google Science Fair The Google Science Fair was a worldwide (excluding Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Myanmar/Burma, Syria, Zimbabwe and any other U.S. sanctioned country) online science competition sponsored by Google, Lego, Virgin Galactic, National Geographic ...

project to access the school lab and computer room, where they can sell the drugs to the various buyers. Even though no one suspects them, they almost get caught one day during a routine police search. This episode frightens Jib who wants to leave, but eventually accepts to go on to finish the sales. Malcolm helps Nakia study, and she opens up to him, but he accuses her of being sent by Dom and pushes her away. The next day, Malcolm asks Will to extract cash from the Bitcoins, and arranges a meeting with a money-laundering gangster named Fidel. Malcolm leaves the meeting with a bag of cash, but is assaulted by the school bully, who takes the bag. Desperate, Malcolm pulls out the gun, retrieving the money and earning the bully's respect. Returning to AJ's office, Malcolm tells Jacoby that he has sold the drugs but has left a trail leading to Jacoby – unless Jacoby gets him admitted to Harvard, Malcolm will transfer the Bitcoins to Jacoby's checking account, incriminating Jacoby for the sale and leading to his arrest. Later Malcolm types his college application essay, describing two students – Student A is a music geek who plays in a punk band and gets straight As, while Student B suffers in the hood and makes money in immoral ways. He asks, "Which student do you think I am?" Malcolm gets a modern haircut and waits for Nakia at

prom A promenade dance, commonly called a prom, is a dance party for high school students. It may be offered in semi-formal black tie or informal suit for boys, and evening gowns for girls. This event is typically held near the end of the school y ...

, but she does not show. Later, Nakia meets Malcolm at his home and thanks him for helping her pass her GED, giving him a pass to

Six Flags Six Flags Entertainment Corporation is an American amusement park corporation, headquartered in Arlington, Texas. It has properties in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Six Flags owns the most theme parks and waterparks combined of any a ...

and kissing him on the cheek. He returns to his room to find a letter from Harvard on his bed. He opens it and looks at the audience before smiling.

Cast

as Malcolm Adekanbi *

as James "Jib" Caldones *

as Cassandra "Diggy" Andrews *

as Lisa Hayes *

as Lily Jacoby * Blake Anderson as Will Sherwood *

as Nakia *

as Dom * Lakeith Stanfield as Marquis "Bug" *

Rick Fox Rick may refer to: People *Rick (given name), a list of people with the given name *Alan Rick (born 1976), Brazilian politician, journalist, pastor and television personality *Johannes Rick (1869–1946), Austrian-born Brazilian priest and mycol ...

as Councilman Blackmon *

Amin Joseph Amin Joseph (born April 26, 1980) is an American actor and producer. He stars as Jerome Saint on John Singleton's crime drama ''Snowfall''. Early life Joseph was born to Antiguan parents in Queens, New York City, but was raised in Harlem, New ...

as The Voice *

Tyga Michael Ray Nguyen-StevensonMicheal Ray Stevenson ...

as De'Andre *

Roger Guenveur Smith Roger Guenveur Smith (born July 27, 1955) is an American actor, director, and writer best known for his collaborations with Spike Lee. Early life Smith was born on July 27, 1955 in Berkeley, California, the son of Helen Guenveur, a dentist, and ...

as Austin Jacoby * De'Aundre Bonds as Stacey, the school security guard, reprising his character from ''

The Wood ''The Wood'' is a 1999 American coming-of-age comedy drama film directed by Rick Famuyiwa and starring Omar Epps, Richard T. Jones and Taye Diggs. It was written by Famuyiwa and Todd Boyd. Plot Roland is getting married and is currently missin ...

'' *

Quincy Brown Quincy Taylor Brown (born June 4, 1991) is an American actor and singer who performs under the mononym Quincy. He starred in the 2015 film '' Brotherly Love'' and released a song called "Friends First". He also had a co-starring role on the te ...

as Jaleel Jacoby * Kap-G as Micheal Fidel *

Vince Staples Vincent Jamal Staples (born July 2, 1993) is an American rapper and singer. Staples was once a close associate of Odd Future, Mike G and Earl Sweatshirt in particular. He is currently signed to Motown and Blacksmith Records. Staples rose to ...

as a member of Dom's Crew *

Casey Veggies Casey Joseph Jones (born July 18, 1993), better known by his stage name Casey Veggies, is an American rapper and songwriter from Los Angeles, California. Since 2007, he has released five independent mixtapes under LA clothing and management comp ...

as rapper *

Wyking Jones Wyking L. Jones (born January 8, 1973) is an American basketball coach, former college and professional player, basketball broadcasting analyst, and actor who was most recently the head coach of the California Golden Bears men's basketball program ...

as Proctor *

as the Narrator

Soundtrack

The soundtrack to the film, ''Dope (Music from the Motion Picture)'', was released by i am OTHER Entertainment and

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. It was founded on January 15, 1889, evolving from the A ...

on June 16, 2015. # "

Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat) "Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)" is a song by American hip hop trio Digable Planets, released as the first single from their debut album, '' Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time and Space)'', in November 1992. The black-and-white music video was ...

" –

Digable Planets Digable Planets () is an American hip hop trio formed in 1987. The trio is composed of rappers Ishmael "Butterfly" Butler, Mariana "Ladybug Mecca" Vieira, and Craig "Doodlebug" Irving. The group is notable for their contributions to the subgenr ...

# "Can't Bring Me Down" – Awreeoh # " The World is Yours" (feat.

Pete Rock Peter O. Phillips (born June 21, 1970), better known by his stage name Pete Rock, is an American record producer, DJ and rapper. He is widely recognized as one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time, and is often mentioned alongside DJ ...

) –

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air ...

# "Go Ahead" – Awreeoh # "

Rebel Without a Pause "Rebel Without a Pause" is a song by hip hop group Public Enemy and the first single from their 1988 album, ''It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back''. The title is a reference to the 1955 film ''Rebel Without a Cause''. History "Rebel With ...

" –

Public Enemy "Public enemy" is a term which was first widely used in the United States in the 1930s to describe individuals whose activities were seen as criminal and extremely damaging to society, though the phrase had been used for centuries to describe ...

# "Don't Get Deleted" – Awreeoh # "

Scenario In the performing arts, a scenario (, ; ; ) is a synoptical collage of an event or series of actions and events. In the ''commedia dell'arte'', it was an outline of entrances, exits, and action describing the plot of a play, and was literally pi ...

" (feat. Leaders of the New School) –

A Tribe Called Quest A Tribe Called Quest was an American hip hop group formed in Queens, New York City, in 1985,Q-Tip

# "Cocaina Shawty" –

Kap G George Ramirez (born July 31, 1994), better known by his stage name Kap G, is an Mexican-American rapper. He is best known for his song " Girlfriend", which peaked at number 10 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart. Early life George Ramirez wa ...

# "Poppin Off" – WatchTheDuck # "

The Humpty Dance "The Humpty Dance" is a song by the American rap group Digital Underground from their debut album '' Sex Packets''. Released as the second single from the album in January 1990, it reached No. 11 on the pop chart, No. 7 on the R&B chart, and No. ...

" –

Digital Underground Digital Underground was an American alternative hip hop group from Oakland, California. Their personnel changed and rotated with each album and tour. Digital Underground's leader and mainstay was Gregory " Shock G" Jacobs (also known as Humpty H ...

# "New Money" – Buddy # "

Hip Hop Hooray "Hip Hop Hooray" is a song by American hip hop group, Naughty by Nature. The song spent one week at number one on the US R&B chart, and reached number eight on the US Pop chart. It contains samples from "Funky President" by James Brown, "Don't C ...

" – Naughty by Nature # "Dirty Feeling" – LolaWolf # " Home is Where the Hatred Is" –

Gil Scott-Heron Gilbert Scott-Heron (April 1, 1949 – May 27, 2011) was an American jazz poet, singer, musician, and author, known primarily for his work as a spoken-word performer in the 1970s and 1980s. His collaborative efforts with musician Brian Ja ...

# "It's My Turn Now" – Awreeoh # "Know What I Want"–

Kali Uchis Karly-Marina Loaiza (born July 17, 1994), known professionally as Kali Uchis ( ), is an American singer. She released her debut mixtape, ''Drunken Babble'', in 2012, which was followed by her debut EP, '' Por Vida'', released in 2015. In 2018, U ...

Release

''Dope'' debuted in the U.S. Dramatic Competition category at the

, which started on January 22, 2015 in Park City, Utah. At the festival, the film received offers from at least six production companies and film studios before its rights were sold to

(who distributed the film domestically) and

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

(who distributed the film internationally) for a reported $7 million plus $20 million for marketing and promotion. It was selected to close the

Directors' Fortnight The Directors' Fortnight (french: Quinzaine des Réalisateurs) is an independent selection of the Cannes Film Festival. It was started in 1969 by the French Directors Guild after the events of May 1968 resulted in cancellation of the Cannes festi ...

section at the

2015 Cannes Film Festival The 68th Cannes Film Festival was held from 13 to 24 May 2015. Joel and Ethan Coen were the Presidents of the Jury for the main competition. It was the first time that two people chaired the jury. Since the Coen brothers each received a separate ...

. It was released in the United States on June 19, 2015. In September 2015, the film competed in the

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

Deauville American Film Festival where it won the ''Prix du Public'' (Audience Award).

Reception

Box office

''Dope'' grossed $6.1 million in its opening weekend, finishing 5th at the box office behind ''

Jurassic World ''Jurassic World'' is a 2015 American science fiction action film directed by Colin Trevorrow, who co-wrote the screenplay with Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, and Derek Connolly from a story by Jaffa and Silver. It is the first installment in the ...

'' ($106.6 million), ''

Inside Out Inside Out may refer to: *Backwards (disambiguation) or inverse Books * '' Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd'', by Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason * ''Inside Out'', Christian book by Larry Crabb * ''Inside Out'', novel by Barry Eisler ...

'' ($90.4 million), '' Spy'' ($11.2 million) and '' San Andreas'' ($8.7 million). At the end of its theatrical run, the film grossed just shy of $18 million worldwide.

Critical response

''Dope'' received positive reviews from critics. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

, the film holds a rating of 89%, based on 150 reviews, with an average rating of 7.3/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Featuring a starmaking performance from Shameik Moore and a refreshingly original point of view from writer-director Rick Famuyiwa, ''Dope'' is smart, insightful entertainment." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the film has a score of 72 out of 100, based on 37 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews." Audiences polled by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...

gave the film an "A−" grade. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'' gave the film five stars out of five, describing the entire cast as "revolutionary." IGN awarded it 7 out of 10, saying "Comedy, romance, drama and crime rub shoulders in entertaining coming-of-age flick."

References

External links