This political satire, purportedly based on a hundred stories of many people in the US caught up in a very uneven, often unfair, and frequently misguided justice system operating in a society obsessed with terrorists, fringe groups, conspiracy theories, immigrant antipathy and overzealous law enforcement. Sounds familiar and much of it rings true. The target of attention in this film is a tiny band of Haitian immigrants living on a communal farm in Miami, in desperate need of cash to pay their meagre rents and grow their crops. They are members of a cult-like religion, Star of Six, an amalgam of Black Muslim, Jewish, and Christian, founded and led by a charismatic, delusional, crackpot leader called Moses who invokes General Toussaint Louverture, the liberator of Haiti, and Black Santa. Moses (Marchánt Davis) has fashioned himself after General Toussaint, wearing a military jacket, a tricorn hat, and a cape made out of a shower curtain. He carries a staff (a wooden curtain pole) and whenever possible rides a horse. Besides his wife Venus (Danielle Brooks) and daughter he has only two followers, former drug dealers and violent criminals, who have been saved from their lives of crime by Moses.

Moses is patently harmless, but so totally in the thrall of his calling and his power, that he believes that he can make things happen by the focus of his mind and never have to resort to actual physical violence. His priority target is one of the ubiquitous cranes (sometimes referred to as the state bird) which looms over his neighborhood and signals the threat of gentrification to his neighborhood. His looney behavior has gotten him on the radar of the FBI, along with department of Homeland Security. The clash with the FBI comes about when the agents see a chance to uncover some bad actors by manipulating the Star of Six group as a lure. The fake jihadist who infiltrates this group of naifs offers them more cash than they even dreamed of as well as 50 assault weapons, treating them as fellow travelers. The whole crazy scheme becomes increasingly elaborate involving a fake neo-Nazi group, fake nuclear weapons, the Miami Police undercover squad. We are in Mel Brooks territory now. (Think, Silverado). Everybody is scamming everybody.

As wacky as Moses’ followers are, the various members of law enforcement come off as petty, misguided, overly ambitious, and incompetent. The justice system is roundly skewered as well, with convoluted plotting required in order to comply with the web of rules and compliances needed to get convictions. Personal motivations within the system are another factor which has huge implications for the hapless victims. Andy (Denis O’Hare), approaching retirement would really like to have a big flashy final act. To that end, he listens to Kendra (Anna Kendrick), an aggressive and ambitious agent, who proposes the audacious scheme which will net them the big trophy. Anna has her own issues as the only woman in the FBI and is constantly having to overcome sexism in law enforcement by making bold, sometimes disastrous, decisions.

The action and the dialog are fast and funny, full of clever quips, snarky insults, and hilarious malaprops and should be familiar to fans of VEEP, which Morris also directed. The ensemble cast works well together with Kendrick and Davis giving standout performances. The run-down sections of Miami are wonderfully rendered with brightly colored elements of decrepitude in sharp contrast with the familiar affluent areas existing cheek by jowl. The film’s violent denouement brings on a sobering reality, as the victimized pawns of the establishment will have to pay the price for the machinations of law enforcement and the criminal justice system, while the establishments figures are rewarded with career advancement. It is a harsh and sadly believable ending, and a serious indictment of the system. I worry that the amount of hilarity with which it is delivered understates the reality. It is seriously fun until it is not.