Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
The extraordinary tale of Harriet Tubman's escape from slavery and transformation into one of America's greatest heroes. Her courage, ingenuity and tenacity freed hundreds of slaves and changed the course of history.
Harriet (2019) is carried largely by Cynthia Erivo's powerhouse central performance, earning genuine acclaim and an Oscar nomination. The film covers vital historical ground with sincerity, but the narrative structure follows a fairly conventional biopic formula — rising hero, mounting obstacles, triumphant resolution — without much formal or storytelling risk-taking. Cinematography is competent and period-appropriate but unremarkable. The ending is emotionally satisfying but predictable given the subject matter. Novelty is moderate: the story of Harriet Tubman is important and underrepresented on screen, lending some distinctiveness, but the filmmaking approach itself is fairly standard prestige biopic fare.