One Night in Miami (2021)

If Regina King is not amongst the best director nominations come this years Oscars, it will be a flat out disgrace. (She wasn't). Another new release based on a stage play, One Night In Miami succeeds everywhere that Ma Rainey's Black Bottom doesn't. It's a fictionalised story of a meeting in a hotel room between Cassius Clay, Malcolm X, Sam Cooke and Jim Brown, mere hours after Cassius Clay has become world champion, on February 25th, 1964. Malcolm X has gathered them together to address the ongoing cultural upheaval and discussing their roles in the civil rights movement. Regina King, so utterly brilliant in 2019's Watchmen mini series (one of the greatest television shows of recent times) weaves magic in adapting the stage play into film, completely selling the story as a movie experience. It helps that the performances are compelling (Aldis Hodge and Kingsley Ben-Adir are especially excellent) and King spends time setting the scene of the era in glorious colour and attention to detail before the events of the meeting begin. As historically interesting as it is attention grabbing, it makes for fascinating viewing as you imagine what would have happened if the meeting had really taken place with you present to witness it. And, thanks to King's stunning vision, you may as well have been. 7.7/10