An Invitation to DESTROYER #04: "How Do You Make a Cop Movie in an ACAB World?"

How do you make a cop movie in an ACAB world? In episode 4 of "An Invitation to DESTROYER," writer/producer/host Jim Penola continues to wrestle with DESTROYER's depiction and dramatic centering of a police officer – a choice that continues to reverberate dynamically in our fraught, present-day relationship with law enforcement.

Through comparisons to contemporaries such as BAD BOYS FOR LIFE (2020) and cult classics like MIAMI VICE (2006), Penola echoes a "duty to interrogate" these stories as offered by DESTROYER's screenwriter, Phil Hay. Indeed, the film transcends the surface nature of cop life to explore the deeper nature of pain itself. 

Guest Editor: Sarah Gorr

Chapters

• 0:04 Guiding Quote: "If you're making a cop movie, you have a duty to interrogate it."
• 0:42 Introduction
• 2:55 Dramatic Reading: Pages 16-22 of the DESTROYER screenplay.
• 3:54 Dramatic Reading: Antonio.
• 6:37 Dramatic Reading: Erin & Ethan.
• 9:33 Analysis: How do you make a cop movie in an ACAB world?
• 22:52 Outro and Credits