This underrated 2015 crime drama is finally on Netflix. Here's why you should watch it

Great crime dramas used to be one of the most common film genres. It's not that the genre has completely disappeared, but today it can be harder to find a well-told story about cops and robbers. With Black mass With its release on September 12th on Netflix, the crime film vacuum was at least somewhat filled.

The film, which tells the story of Whitey Bulger's criminal empire and his collaboration with the FBI, is now nearly a decade old, and if you missed it when it first hit theaters, here are three reasons you should definitely make time for it while it's streaming.

It brings together a great cast

Black Mass – Official Main Trailer [HD]

Johnny Depp received a lot of praise for his portrayal of Whitey Bulger, but he is far from the only reason Black mass is worth a look. The film is full of great actors who were either on the rise at the time or were already established greats, including Benedict Cumberbatch as Bulger's brother, Joel Edgerton as the policeman who transforms him, Jesse Plemons (Civil War) and Dakota Johnson (Madame Web).

Black mass is so captivating because each actor in it has a face that you will remember, and they have the authority needed to make the story they are telling seem real.

It is based on a remarkable true story

Black mass is not the kind of film that tells the true story in a nutshell, but it is nonetheless based on the true story of Whitey Bulger's criminal enterprise, which he ran while simultaneously working with the FBI to dismantle the Italian Mafia.

The film is particularly gripping because many of its details seem true to life, and also because it reminds us that despite all the fabricated mafia stories, there was a very real battle between the feds and the mafia, and that they were willing to recruit some truly awful people to do their dirty work.

It is a meditation on the impossibility of justice

Black mass is interesting because in this film, no one gets away with clean hands. Instead, we see that the cops are in cahoots with the bad guys, and we understand that even though many of the people involved in this story served long prison sentences, nothing can undo the damage they caused.

Director Scott Cooper is keen to stress that justice cannot undo the damage, and Bulger's story, as compelling as it was, had real costs and sacrifices. This film never forgets that it's mostly about the bad guys, and that normal people can be nothing more than collateral damage.

Black mass is streaming on Netflix.