Master Rank #619

Killer of Sheep

1978

GCML Total7.8040% Greatness · 40% Engagement · 20% Ease

Directed by Charles Burnett

CastHenry G. Sanders · Kaycee Moore

USAEnglishDrama83 minNot Rated
Sight & SoundNarrative FeatureDeliberate pace
Original poster artwork · Great Cinema Master List

Spoiler-free premise

A slaughterhouse worker struggles with exhaustion, family responsibility, and life in his Los Angeles neighborhood.

Read expanded premiseLonger, still spoiler-free

Watts slaughterhouse worker Stan moves through work, marriage, fatherhood, friendship, and financial strain in his Los Angeles neighborhood. Small opportunities and frustrations accumulate without turning his family into a conventional problem to be solved.

Why it belongs

Killer of Sheep gives Black working-class life lyrical density through neighborhood play, slaughterhouse labor, blues, and Henry G. Sanders's exhausted Stan.

Read expanded why it belongsThe fuller editorial case

Sheep, factory machinery, children crossing rooftops, a broken car engine, cups of tea, kitchen dancing, and a wide musical range let hardship coexist with play and intimacy—observation resists imposed plot.

Major award wins

No verified wins in this six-institution crosswalk.

Awards are reference metadata only · zero points in 40/40/20

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