The Hard Stop

On August 4, 2011, Mark Duggan, convicted of minor crimes but suspected of major ones, was shot dead in Tottenham, north London, after armed police "hard-stopped" the minicab he was travelling in. It was claimed he had a handgun in his possession. The shooting sparked five days of civil unrest which left five people dead, and caused rioting, looting and arson damage running into many millions of pounds. This hard-hitting documentary uses interviews with family and friends to examine the before, during and aftermath of Duggan's killing. It's well made and passionate, but hardly the most balanced work you'll ever see. It's not hard to see where the director's sympathies lie. So it's worth the watch, though unlikely to sway the entrenched opinions as to whether what the police did that day was justified or not.