Free Meek

Fact-based, fast-paced, and infuriating as all hell, Free Meek benefits from having the participation and financial backing of Jay-Z and his Roc Nation company; from the support of Meek’s tight-knit family that accompanies him every step of the way; and by having a fabulous explainer in Rolling Stone’ investigative journalist Paul Solotaroff, who helped nationalize the Meek Mill story in 2017 and whose silver throat makes anything sound like butter.

The documentary is forthright about aiming to defend Meek. And it’s impressively clear-eyed about the bigger picture: how disproportionately the criminal justice system penalizes young black men who, like Meek, become ensnared in a vicious arrest-prison-probation cycle and, unlike him, lack the considerable resources required to break free.

As it traces Meek’s case and career, the doc illuminates several of the broader but less publicized issues his story exemplifies [how one relatively minor conviction can lead to a lifetime of cycling in and out of prison]. ... If the transition from deep dive into recent history to present-tense detective story feels a bit bumpy, both parts of the narrative are equally important.

The series doesn’t purport to take an ostensibly impartial view of Meek’s original case. It’s more interested in tying the story of the artist’s 12-year legal limbo to that experienced by black people around the country, especially in low-income neighborhoods.