Ava DuVernay's tour de force film 13th is the latest in a string of impressive Netflix-produced documentaries (see also: Audrie & Daisy, Amanda Knox) that have had me glued to my TV screen in recent weeks. DuVernay utilizes powerful interviews with historians, activists, politicians, and critics to lay out the history of racial injustice in America since the Civil War, and she goes deep on the statistics about the disproportionate number of black men who currently populate our broken prison system. The straight-to-Netflix format allows her to include some painfully current events as well, including recent cell phone videos of murders by police and footage from the 2016 presidential race. Beautifully shot and interspersed with choice musical selections from Public Enemy, Killer Mike, The Roots, and more, 13th tackles difficult material in an intelligent, lucid manner and allows for nuanced discussion of complicated issues. Of course the biggest problem with a documentary like this is that the people who need to see it never will, even though it should be mandatory viewing for every single American right now. Especially before the election.