As for the why of it all, that too stays shrouded in mystery-but perhaps that's for the best. The rest of the movie is rendered in such dull tones, such clumsy execution, that it's likely they would have fumbled a more concrete message.

Ramping up the two-dimensional good/bad contrast does cause the film to be more sensational than gritty, unfortunately; and the cleverness seems to overshadow any message of the film by the time we get to the end.

A fairly compelling, singularly strange Civil Rights mystery thriller...deployed effectively enough to hit the one mark it needs to hit, which is to have you knitting your brows half-way through the film wondering what the what is going on.