The latest Netflix movie, “They Cloned Tyrone,” definitely has blaxploitation vibes. Its main characters cruise in a gas-guzzling Buick, with hair and wardrobe straight outta “Super Fly.” But it is set in the modern day, smartphones and all, and that’s where writer-director Juel Taylor’s sensibilities lie.

Fontaine (John Boyega,“Star Wars”) is a drug dealer, Slick Charles (Jamie Foxx,“Soul”) a pimp and Yo-Yo (Teyonah Parris,“Candyman”) a prostitute, making up a trifecta of lowlifes in the Glen, an urban Black neighborhood in .

One night, a deal goes bad, and Fontaine is killed. The next morning, he wakes up in his own bed, apparently OK. He sees a suspicious SUV, follows it and stumbles upon an underground lab. On a table is a bullet-ridden body — his own. Freaked out, Fontaine, Slick Charles and Yo-Yo become detectives, intent on uncovering a conspiracy that puts the “systemic” in systemic racism.

“They say curiosity killed the cat,” muses Slick Charles. “We some motherf—ing cats!”

“Get Out” is an obvious influence here, but so is the genre mashup “Planet Terror,” Robert Rodriguez’s contribution to the 2007 double feature “Grindhouse,” with its government conspiracy and sci-fi tinge. Taylor’s smart script cleverly suggests, within the genre settings, how established systems of power keep Black communities marginalized.

Production designer Franco-Giacomo Carbone imbues Taylor’s vision with an attractive neon seediness, with motels (free HBO and Cinemax!), ’70s-style fast-food restaurants and an underground lair worthy of the Batcave. Ken Seng’s murky cinematography deepens the mystery.

“They Cloned Tyrone” can be heavy-handed times and runs a bit long, but the committed performances of its plucky triumvirate of stars go a long way toward the fun.

Foxx, whose Slick Charles is still riding his 1995 International Players Ball Pimp of the Year award, appears to be having his most onscreen fun in years. Boyega adds another gem tohis runof post-“Star Wars” performances.

And why isn’t Parris (“Mad Men,”“Dear White People”) an A-list star? Her Yo-Yo is the driving energy of “They Cloned Tyrone,” less a kick-ass Foxy Brown than a resourceful Nancy Drew, her childhood hero. She’s the character you believe will make it out of the Glen.

Reach G. Allen Johnson:ajohnson@sfchronicle.com; Twitter:@BRFilmsAllen