Hidden Figures

"Meet the women you don't know, behind the mission you do."

2016 2h 7m EN

🙌

8.0

BANGER

★8.0TMDB · 10,717

DramaHistory

Synopsis

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The untold story of Katherine G. Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson – brilliant African-American women working at NASA and serving as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in history – the launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit. The visionary trio crossed all gender and race lines to inspire generations to dream big.

“Meet the women you don't know, behind the mission you do.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Taraji P. Henson
Katherine G. Johnson
Octavia Spencer
Dorothy Vaughan
Janelle Monáe
Mary Jackson
Kevin Costner
Al Harrison
Kirsten Dunst
Vivian Mitchell
Jim Parsons
Paul Stafford
Mahershala Ali
Jim Johnson
Glen Powell
John Glenn

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Theodore Melfi
Writers: Theodore Melfi, Allison Schroeder
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 9.4× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 10 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Theodore Melfi, shot by Mandy Walker. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Pharrell Williams. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Peter Teschner shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Taraji P. Henson and Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monáe carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Meet the women you don't know, behind the mission you do.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt4846340 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Theodore Melfi directs. Mandy Walker behind the camera. Pharrell Williams scores. Peter Teschner cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 9.4× over at the box office.
2Released 10 years ago.
3Directed by Theodore Melfi, shot by Mandy Walker. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Pharrell Williams. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Peter Teschner shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Taraji P. Henson and Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monáe carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "Meet the women you don't know, behind the mission you do.".
8IMDB entry: tt4846340 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
910,717 TMDB user ratings logged — serious cultural footprint.
10Classified under 20 themes, including "nasa", "mathematics", "sexism", "biography".

The technical file

Cinematography: Mandy Walker
Original score: Pharrell Williams
Editing: Peter Teschner
Production design: Wynn Thomas
Costume design: Renee Ehrlich Kalfus
Makeup / hair: Yolanda Sheridan
VFX supervisor: Stefan Andersson
Sound: Derek Vanderhorst
Stunt coordinator: Keith Adams
Runtime: 127 min · 2h 7m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $25,000,000
Box office: $235,957,472
Return: 944% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: Hidden Figures (2016)

Awards

National Board of Review: Top Ten Films

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Theodore Melfi

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Reno2017-09-16
★ 8/10
The other side story of the historic event! This film did not just represented the black people, but the women as well. Today we talk about discrimination against women, though this film is an example that it all had started way long ago, yet the struggle has not ended. Anyway, this is a biopic, a biopic of three women and their struggle not just being a black, but being women. When the nation was eager to send its first man to the space, there was some trouble within the team who are behind it to work together as one. Lots of inspiring events reveal how the history was made and the working culture was changed forever inside the NASA. The film was nominated for the Oscars in the three slots, but did not win any. That's fine, because I would prefer those real women to be recognised over what this film had achieved. All the three actresses were good. Their roles were unique from one another. Really a wonder film about three real persons in one film. Something rare in films to highlight their achievements equally. The personal life, as well as their professional was well briefed. The others like Kevin and Dunst in small part were also good. Directed by just a one film old filmmaker. He did good. The screenplay was adapted from the book of the same name. Deserved all the awards and praises it had received. After seeing how it had ended, a sequel could be possible. Mission Moon. I hope they would consider it! Seems a nice idea! 8/10
Gimly2019-08-25
★ 5/10
Do not at all think that by my feelings I attempt to diminish the achievements of those who made Hidden Figures nor the real women around which the story revolves, this simply just wasn't for me. Final rating:★★½ - Not quite for me, but I definitely get the appeal.
CinemaSerf2023-12-31
★ 7/10
This is quite a compelling story of three ladies who played a crucial part in the NASA operation that ultimately put John Glen into space. All three were mathematicians drafted in to provide their skills but unlike so many of their colleagues, they were subject to prejudices surrounding their race and their gender. The women adopted the best solution to combat this bigotry, though - they decided there are more ways than one to skin a cat and so let their astonishing talents do their talking for them. Luckily, Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson) had a boss in Al Harrison (Kevin Costner) who was essentially a practical and politically motivated man who cared far less about segregation and much more about beating the Soviets into space. His attitude, that swiftly builds into a considerable degree of respect, enabled her to step up and demonstrate she was every bit as good, if not better, than those white men around her - all rather uniformly dressed in white shirts and ties. Across the corridor, the equally adept Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) was fighting her own battle for recognition as the supervisor of a crack team that was charged with installing, programming and validating the workings of a brand new IBM computer. Finally, the triumvirate was made up by Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe) whose skills were going to be crucial if the heat shield on the module charged with getting the astronaut (Glen Powell) back to Earth safely was going to work properly. Director Theodore Melfi manages to delicately marry these three threads together keeping the story interesting and investing us not just in the struggles of these women but also in the excitement of the practical science unfolding before us. Henson and Spencer are convincingly understated with their performances and though Monáe is less prominent, the three characterisations still resonate well and informatively. I knew nothing of those people before I watched this - I'm glad I did.