Inspired by a true story, The Last Black Man in San Francisco is about the city’s rapid gentrification and those crazy looks white folks give Black and brown people for daring to feel at home in their own neighborhoods. It centers on carpenter Jimmie Fails, who becomes obsessed with his massive childhood home in the city and sets out on a mission to buy it. (These days, it’s going for a cool $4 million.) While there are lots of subtle clues about San Francisco’s vile history of gentrification, Last Black Man still comes off as empathetic toward gentrifiers. “These aren’t bad people,” the movie seems to say. “They’re just complicit.” With the film refusing to place any blame, it’s ultimately unclear why its story needed to be told. by Jenni Moore