Bessie

Queen Latifah stars as 1920s blues diva Bessie Smith in this gritty biography that celebrates the singer's extraordinary talent and confronts the prejudices of the era that stood in her way. Smith's affairs with men and women are chronicled, alongside run-ins with the Ku Klux Klan and the often patronising attention she received from the well-to-do New York intellectual set, punctuated throughout by evocative re-creations of her musical performances. The episodic structure leads to some aspects of her story being told in a rush, as if director Dee Rees is determined to tick every box possible, but all manage to capture the flavour of the times with a keen eye for detail. Latifah is a powerful presence in both the dramatic and musical sequences, and there's equally good work from Michael Kenneth Williams as Smith's charismatic but controlling husband, and Mo'Nique as her mentor, the influential blues pioneer Ma Rainey.