Taglines: It’s about crime. It’s about payback. It’s about survival.
Set It Off movie storyline. Francesca “Frankie” Sutton is a Los Angeles bank teller who witnesses a robbery. Although she had no prior knowledge of the robbery, the bank fires Frankie after the police uncover a connection between her and one of the three robbers. Frankie goes to work at Luther’s Janitorial Services with her three best friends, Lida “Stoney”
Newsome, Cleopatra “Cleo” Sims, and Tisean “T.T.” Williams. Luther treats them with disrespect and pays them paltry wages. Cleo states they should rob a bank themselves. Frankie agrees, but Stoney and T.T. are reluctant. However, when Stoney’s younger brother is gunned down by the police in a case of mistaken identity and T.T.’s son is taken away from her by Child Protective Services because she cannot afford to take care of him, they too now have the motivation to join the robbery.
The four women embark on a series of bank robberies, which are investigated by LAPD detective Strode. He suspects that Cleo (because of her prior convictions), Frankie (because of her inadvertent connection to the earlier robbery) and Stoney (because of her brother’s death) are involved. But his superior refuses to allow him to bring them in for questioning because he doesn’t feel the evidence is sufficient.
The four women stash the money in an air vent at one of their work sites. However, Cleo, Frankie, and T.T. show up for work one day and realize that their boss, Luther has discovered the money and fled. While Stoney attends a banking event with her lover Keith, the three women track Luther to a motel where he is sleeping with a prostitute. When Luther pulls a gun on Cleo, T.T. kills him. The next day Detective Strode takes Cleo to the police station to participate in a lineup.
A glare from Cleo intimidates the prostitute into silence. Frankie and Cleo persuade T.T. and Stoney that they need to rob another bank and leave town the next day. The women rob the bank where Keith, Stoney’s lover, works. Strode and his partner try to prevent the robbery, but a bank security guard shoots T.T. The women flee but T.T. dies in Stoney’s arms en route to the hospital. The three remaining women decide to split up and meet up later.
Set It Off is a 1996 American crime action film directed by F. Gary Gray and written by Kate Lanier and Takashi Bufford. The film stars Jada Pinkett Smith, Queen Latifah, Vivica A. Fox and Kimberly Elise (in her film debut). It follows four close friends in Los Angeles, California, who decide to plan and execute a bank robbery. They decide to do so for different reasons, although all four want better for themselves and their families. The film became a critical and box office success, grossing over $41 million against a budget of $9 million.
Set It Off (1996)
Directed by: F. Gary Gray
Starring: Jada Pinkett Smith, Queen Latifah, Vivica A. Fox, Ella Joyce, Kimberly Elise, John C. McGinley, Blair Underwood, Vincent Baum, Anna Maria Horsford, Samantha MacLachlan
Screenplay by: Takashi Bufford, Kate Lanier
Production Design by: Robb Wilson King
Cinematography by: Marc Reshovsky
Film Editing by: Marc Reshovsky
Costume Design by: Sylvia Vega-Vasquez
Set Decoration by: Lance Lombardo
Music by: Christopher Young
MPAA Rating: R for strong graphic violence, pervasive language, some sex and drug use.
Distributed by: New Line Cinema
Release Date: November 6, 1996
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