Cooley High

Chicago, 1964: it’s the end of high school for aspiring poet Preach and his best friend, Cochise, and they have a full slate of extracurricular activities: swinging dance parties, late-night joyrides, and the stumbling pursuit of romance. Of course, when you’re a young Black man in America, there’s no guarantee that your coming-of-age story will be free of complications. Director Michael Schultz and screenwriter Eric Monte—who drew on his own experiences growing up in Chicago’s Cabrini-Green housing project—arrived at something truly unique in 1970s cinema with Cooley High: an endearingly funny, tender, and authentic portrait of Black teens striving toward a brighter future, brought to life by a dynamic ensemble cast and set to a heavenly hit parade of Motown classics.