What would you do if you discovered a person you admired might not be the person you thought they were? What if that person was in a position of power, and could potentially do more harm than good? Would you tell anyone? At its heart 88 is a conspiracy movie, with just enough truth behind it to be plausible in today’s society. That being said, it loses its way at times. It sometimes heads off in unnecessary directions, preventing it from being as good as it could be.

Femi Jackson (Brandon Victor Dixon) is a good, hard-working family man who works as a financial director for a democratic super PAC. This super PAC supports presidential candidate Harold Roundtree (Orlando Jones). Roundtree is aiming to be the second Black President of the United States, but after discovering some irregularities and patterns in the donations, Femi starts to wonder if he’s the right man for the job. To help clear things up Femi contacts his friend Ira Goldstein (Thomas Sadoski), an investment blogger, who quickly discovers a calculated conspiracy involving white supremacists. This conspiracy runs deeper than either of them could have ever imagined and makes them doubt the legitimacy of Roundtree’s candidacy.

Dixon and Sadoski both play compelling characters that keep you intrigued in the direction of the story. Simply put, they are incredible demonstrating their friendship and camaraderie. Both actors draw you in with their concern for one another, and the movie never once makes you doubt how much they care for each other. It’s actually refreshing to see a conspiracy film where you never once doubt a friendship that it’s showing. 88 also does a great job of giving accurate information on codes used by white supremacists such as the 88 code and echoing. It’s disturbing to know that some things that these characters talk about are true. As good as the film is though in these areas, it does have its faults.

If 88 stuck to the main storyline it would be a can’t miss conspiracy thriller. But unfortunately, side stories and sub plots side track the film. It seems like these sub plots have very little to do with the main plot. For instance, Femi’s son gets caught at school playing a violent video to his classmates to fuel distrust towards the police. On another instance, Femi’s wife accuses her co-worker of not sticking up for their people. Both are legitimate issues in today’s society, and deserve time on screen. But 88 isn’t the right movie to do it in. It felt like the director was trying to push all of today’s race issues into one film. Instead, they should have stuck to one well oiled plot. If the director felt it was necessary to include them, it could have been as part of the main storyline instead of subplots.

88 is a compelling film, but it could have been better. All it would have taken was a bit tighter of a script and a better job editing it down. Even with its faults however, it is a decent film that people who enjoy conspiracy thrillers will enjoy.