Film

Biggie & Tupac

Nick Broomfield's unsettling documentary follows ex-detective Russell Poole as he unravels the 1997 murders of Tupac and Biggie, suggesting institutional corruption ran deeper than the east-coast-west-coast rivalry we thought we understood. It's investigative true crime that implicates the LAPD itself—uncomfortable, methodical, and impossible to dismiss. For anyone who lived through hip-hop's darkest moment or wants to understand how official narratives fracture under scrutiny.

TMDb rating3.2

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy investigative documentaries that chase a cold case through interviews and dogged legwork, and you don't need a tidy answer at the end to feel satisfied.

Skip it if you want a balanced, settled account of hip hop's history; this one is a single filmmaker's restless, conspiracy-tinged hunt, and its loose, meandering structure can frustrate viewers wanting clear facts.

What it asks of you: It runs about107 minutes and stays in the chase, so expect long stretches of talking heads, shifting leads and patience with a case that refuses to close neatly.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst2015

HBO's methodical true-crime series unpacks a wealthy man's connection to multiple murders across decades. Like Biggie & Tupac, it's driven by a detective's obsessive pursuit of truth and institutional evasion.

But It's a six-hour commitment, and the pacing can feel glacial. Some viewers find Durst himself a magnetic distraction from the actual crimes.

The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst poster

ReMastered: The Two Killings of Sam Cooke2019

Another music documentary that questions the official story around a Black artist's death, exploring how narratives get cemented and who benefits from them. Similar DNA, different case.

But Shorter and less investigative than Biggie & Tupac—more essay than detective work. Some feel it raises questions without pursuing them far enough.

ReMastered: The Two Killings of Sam Cooke poster

Complicit2017

Follows a filmmaker investigating his own family's entanglement with South African apartheid institutions. Personal, institutional, and deeply uncomfortable—the moral reckoning Broomfield gestures toward.

But It's experimental and digressive. Some viewers want clearer narrative momentum than it provides, which can feel evasive.

Complicit poster

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Biggie & Tupac

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

L.A. Confidential1997

Both argue that LAPD corruption is foundational, not an aberration. The film imagines it; Broomfield documents it. Same city, same question: who guards the guards?

Curtis Hanson's noir thriller is pure fiction, but it's about corrupt LAPD detectives in the 1950s using violence to control the city. It shares Biggie & Tupac's DNA: institutional violence, ambition, and how power rewrites history to suit itself.

But It's a genre film, so it plays differently—stylized and lean where documentaries meander. The pleasure is aesthetic rather than investigative, which some find a betrayal of real stakes.

L.A. Confidential poster
More like this (3)

Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief2015

Another HBO documentary about how a powerful organization silences truth-tellers and controls narratives. Same structure: institution, whistleblowers, and the slow accumulation of damning detail.

But If you've already seen it, the mechanics become predictable. It's also controversial enough that some dismiss it rather than engage.

Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief poster

The Act of Killing2012

Joshua Oppenheimer reconstructs genocidal violence with the perpetrators themselves, forcing them to face what they did. Radically different approach to institutional evil, but the moral weight is similar.

But It's genuinely difficult to watch—not just intellectually, but viscerally. Some people shouldn't watch it on a weeknight.

The Act of Killing poster

Tickled2016

David Farrier follows a bizarre online fetish community and uncovers an elaborate network of coercion and control. Genre surprise, but the institutional corruption angle connects it squarely to Broomfield's interests.

But The subject matter (competitive tickling) feels absurd, and some viewers can't get past the premise to the serious investigation underneath.

Tickled poster

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