Steven Soderbergh scores with insightful NBA drama.

After all this time, it’s great to see Steven Soderbergh grow into a kind of lo-fi James Cameron as he continues to push the boundaries of cinema wherever possible.

After years playing the Hollywood game, Soderbergh returns to his indie roots to play ball in a very different sense as he tackles the murky world of NBA politics through the lens of an iPhone. The result is unique and insightful and takes the director way back to his Sex, Lies, and Videotape days.

Soderbergh has rarely been this political as he tackles power, race, control, and a sport that unwittingly highlights the glaring divide in American society.

Penned by Moonlight screenwriter Tarell Alvin McCraney, High Flying Bird is the story of life during an NBA lockout and it simmers with the kind of personal and political commentary that made the writer’s previous film such a success.

Of the cast, Andre Holland is a triumph as the canny agent caught in the eye of the storm and Zazie Beetz is great as his on-off assistant, both working brilliantly within the film’s limitations.

While an encyclopaedic knowledge of the sport isn’t a necessity, High Flying Bird doesn’t shy away from going deep into the mechanisms of the NBA and the politics of a sport where the race and class divides couldn’t be clearer. In true Soderbergh style, the film is very talkie and may lose the uninitiated, yet the themes are universal and there’s a lot to appreciate for the everyone.

After years on the bench, it’s great to see Soderbergh back and pushing boundaries once again. Like previous film Unsane, High Flying Bird is shot entirely on an iPhone, however Soderbergh now appears far more comfortable with the medium. This is the director’s most politically charged film yet as he examines the nitty gritty of basketball through the eyes of a workers strike. It may be bewildering to some but the film’s universal themes will appeal to many and with strong performances from Holland and Beetz, High Flying Bird is a triumph of confined, lo-fi storytelling that takes on the game and wins.

High Flying Bird is available to stream on Netflix now.