Set Off

Set It Off is an action-filled drama that centers around four African-American women, Stony, Cleo, T. T. and Frankie who are down on their luck and do not have much money. The women have been friends since childhood and have dealt with bad boyfriends, shady employers and many more problems and have relied on each other to pull them through the tough times.

Stony, Cleo, T.T. and Frankie also have a strong bond and common goal, which is to escape the harsh realities of their crime laden Los Angeles neighborhood. The women desperately want to live a better life, so together they decide to start robbing banks. At first, they are quite successful at pulling off the bank robberies until a very determined Detective named Strode becomes hot on their trail.

As the women grow richer, they become increasingly suspicious of one another. In addition, they have varying ideas on what they want to do with the stolen. The women have plenty of money to break free but Detective Strode closes in on them and the movie builds to a climatic conclusion.

The 1986 film is rated R and was directed by F. Gary Gray and written by Takashi Bufford and Kate Lanier. It stars Jada Pinkett as Stony, Queen Latifah as Cleo, Vivica A. Fox as Frankie and Kimberly Elise as T.T. Williams. The film also stars John C. McGinley as Detective Strode.