The Gates (2026)

So The Gates has good points & bad points that when juxtaposed together are really quite jarring. Its definitely a film of two halves: the first 40mins or so, the writing seems lazy & cliched as we see 3 young black men (Mason Gooding, Algee Smith, & Keith Powers) taking a shortcut through a gated community in Texas & inexplicably witnessing a shocking act of violence committed against a young woman by a white Pastor (the late James Van Der Beek) in his big fancy mansion. Que lots of talk of the boys from the hood being the lower classes who the rich, White Christians don't believe. So far, so cliched. But then about half way through the film, things take a surprising turn & there are some interesting character developments that take the story in a whole other direction. I almost feel like because the film is played relatively "straight" that they missed a trick, because it could have been presented with a satirical sense of dark humour & it would have come across as more original. There is humour present, but just not enough to outweigh the earnestness. Its refreshing to see Van Der Beek sink his teeth into a villainous role & he's truly wicked here; just a shame he passed away at only 48-years-old when he showed such range here. Mason Gooding is strong as the level-headed leader of the trio. The Gates is good enough, especially the entertaining second half... I rated it ☆☆☆ stars out of four.