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White Boy Rick
A 14-year-old becomes the FBI's youngest informant in an extraordinary true story of hubris and daring, directed by Yann Demange, who won a British Independent Film Award for his gripping 2014 thriller '71 starring Jack O'Connell. It's the 1980s and Detroit is in the thrall of a crack epidemic that law enforcement appears powerless to halt. Teenager Rick Wershe (Richie Merritt) lives with his father Richard Wershe Sr (Matthew McConaughey) surrounded by evidence of this social decay. His sister Dawn (Bel Powley) is an addict, who is dreaming of a better life with her boyfriend, and there seems to be no way for young Rick to pull himself clear of the quagmire. Then local cop Mel Jackson (Brian Tyree Henry) and FBI agents Alex Snyder (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and Frank Byrd (Rory Cochrane) approach Rick with an intriguing proposition. They want to recruit the lad to go undercover and report back on the men and women responsible for dealing and trafficking the narcotics. The teenager agrees and in the space of two years, he provides vital intelligence against corrupt cops, fathers a child and takes a bullet. Crucially, when the time comes for the FBI to protect their secret asset, they abandon Rick and the teenager fends for himself.
