Shaft

Shaft is a 2019 American action comedy film directed by Tim Story and written by Kenya Barris and Alex Barnow. The film stars Samuel L. Jackson, Jessie T. Usher, Regina Hall, and Richard Roundtree. It is the fifth film in the Shaft series, a direct sequel to the 2000 film with the same title and was also Roundtree's final portrayal of the original eponymous character John Shaft Sr. before his death in 2023. The film was released theatrically in the United States on June 14, 2019, by Warner Bros. Pictures, and digitally in global markets on June 28, 2019, by Netflix. It received mixed reviews from critics and underperformed at the box office. Plot In 1989, NYPD Detective John Shaft, his wife Maya, and their infant son JJ Shaft survive an assassination attempt by drug lord Pierro "Gordito" Carrera. Concerned for their safety, Maya divorces Shaft, moves upstate, and raises JJ on her own. Twenty-five years later, Shaft has become a private investigator and JJ is a rookie FBI analyst. JJ's childhood friend and ex-United States Army soldier Karim appears to die of a heroin overdose, but doctor and love interest Sasha concludes he was murdered. JJ turns to his father for aid. Shaft agrees to help, believing JJ's case may lead him to Gordito.