As the malicious effects of racial segregation fade more and more into myth, those who never experienced it first hand lose their awareness of a dark time in world history. Hidden Figures, based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Margot Lee Shetterly, brings the realities of being a black woman in the early 1960s to the big screen, but casts that reality in the light of three brave women who dared to defy the circumstances that had been proscribed to them.
Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monáe play Katherine P. Johnson (neé Goble), Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson, three black women who worked for NASA in the early years of the space program, when beating the Russians into orbit was of the utmost importance. All three have brilliant, analytical minds that are used and discarded by a system that places little value on women, particularly women of colour. Gradually, though, their intelligence, resilience, and determination break down the barriers that stand in their way.
Hidden Figures is an unabashedly feel-good movie, but one that transmutes a huge victory - the American space program putting a man in space - into tiny moments of victory for the women around whom it is centred - a concession from a white superior, a respectful handshake, a moment in which they take what is rightfully theirs. It's an intimate picture that takes its time to get to know the characters at its centre, making them complex, likeable, and awe-inspiring with the depth that many other movies that angle for being "inspirational" don't manage to do.
Part of that is in the performances. This is Taraji P. Henson's (best known for starring in the TV series Empire) breakthrough moment, as she reveals a sweet, kind, dedicated mother who has been hardened by a life of turmoil and loss. Though she plays the character soft-spoken and reserved, Henson always ensures that the audience can sense bubbling frustration beneath her unassuming exterior.
Oscar-winner Octavia Spencer (The Help) is stunning as the witty and stubborn Dorothy Vaughan, with her every movement and line conveying the unflappable intelligence of the woman she plays. Completing the trio, Janelle Monáe (Moonlight) is a movie star on the rise, her sultry, eloquent and proud turn as Mary Jackson proving to be one of the most magnetic performances. Kevin Costner, Kirsten Dunst and Jim Parsons also deliver as NASA superiors who transcend the ingrained villainy of their privileged positions.
As with any adaptation of a true story, Hidden Figures does take liberties with the actual story, and a few moments do veer too close to the "White Saviour" trope for comfort. For the most part, though, the screenplay by director Theodore Melfi and Allison Schroeder does well in not diminishing or misattributing the achievements of these brilliant women.
With its funk-, soul-, and jazz-infused soundtrack curated by Pharrell Williams, and simple but very effective cinematography by Mandy Walker, Hidden Figures wisely stays away from the tropes of any number of "feel good" movies. There is real sadness, anger, frustration and pain here, so when those emotions give way to joy and victory, it feels all the more real. Hidden Figures is a crowd pleaser that never feels shallow or manipulative, and above all it reminds us what the most downtrodden and underestimated denizens of our society are capable of. Now, when representation matters so much, Hidden Figures is precisely the story we need to be telling.
Hidden Figures is showing in limited preview screenings this weekend, and opens in wide release in Australian cinemas on Thursday February 16th.
