Shirley

"Fearless. Fierce. First."

2024 1h 57m EN

👍

6.6

SOLID

★6.6TMDB · 93

HistoryDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Shirley Chisholm makes a trailblazing run for the 1972 Democratic presidential nomination after becoming the first Black woman elected to Congress.

“Fearless. Fierce. First.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Regina King
Shirley Chisholm
Lance Reddick
Wesley McDonald 'Mac' Holder
Terrence Howard
Arthur Hardwick Jr.
Lucas Hedges
Robert Gottlieb
Michael Cherrie
Conrad Chisholm
Brian Stokes Mitchell
Stanley Townsend
Christina Jackson
Barbara Lee
André Holland
Walter Fauntroy

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: John Ridley
Writers: John Ridley
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

ERA

Did you know

Released 2 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by John Ridley, shot by Ramsey Nickell. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Tamar-kali. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Regina King and Lance Reddick and Terrence Howard carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Fearless. Fierce. First.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt14077516 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

Only 93 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

John Ridley directs. Ramsey Nickell behind the camera. Tamar-kali scores. JoAnne Yarrow cuts. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 2 years ago.
2Directed by John Ridley, shot by Ramsey Nickell. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Tamar-kali. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor JoAnne Yarrow shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Regina King and Lance Reddick and Terrence Howard carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "Fearless. Fierce. First.".
7IMDB entry: tt14077516 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Only 93 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
9Classified under 10 themes, including "underdog", "1970s", "based on true story", "fight the system".

The technical file

Cinematography: Ramsey Nickell
Original score: Tamar-kali
Editing: JoAnne Yarrow
Production design: Dina Goldman-Kunin
Costume design: Megan Coates
Makeup / hair: Debi Young
Sound: Leslie Shatz
Stunt coordinator: Julie Michaels
Runtime: 117 min · 1h 57m
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Shirley (2024)

Also by

John Ridley

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

Brent Marchant2024-04-07
★ 6/10
Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm (Regina King), the first African-American woman elected to the House of Representatives, was an inspiring, trailblazing politician, particularly in the areas of race and gender politics. After winning her seat in Congress in 1968, she later went on to run for the Democratic Party nomination for President in 1972. And that impressive background, one would think, should provide the basis for an engaging, uplifting film biography. Unfortunately, writer-director John Ridley’s take on this groundbreaking, often-unappreciated pioneer misses the mark in a number of ways. The biggest problem is a script that tries to cover too much ground in its 1:58:00 runtime, addressing an array of elements from Chisholm’s personal and political life and not covering either area particularly well, most notably in the film’s first half before settling down in the picture’s back end. The narrative jumps around so much that the picture becomes choppy and unfocused – almost incoherent at times – primarily due to some inexplicably mystifying film editing and a lack of sufficient explanation and back story, especially for those who may not know much about the protagonist’s life going in. The film also features some rather questionable casting choices, such as the selection of actor W. Earl Brown to portray Alabama Governor George Wallace, who neither looks nor sounds anything like the conservative Southern Democrat who also ran for President in 1972 and was subsequently shot during the campaign. Even King’s performance is somewhat uncharacteristically lacking as she struggles mightily to definitively capture Chisholm’s singular demeanor and vocal inflections, qualities that sometimes don’t always resonate, despite the actress’s strong physical resemblance to her character. The real standout here is Lance Reddick, who gives one of his career’s best portrayals (as Chisholm’s political mentor) in one of his last screen performances. It’s disappointing that this inspirational social and political leader hasn’t received the worthy cinematic tribute she truly deserves. Perhaps “Shirley” might have worked better as a miniseries than as a standalone vehicle, as that format likely would have provided a better option for more fully telling her story in all of the detail it seeks to depict here. Indeed, for someone who endeavored to rise up to the challenges she faced, it’s disheartening that the film seeking to depict that effort doesn’t match what she so earnestly sought to accomplish.

Production companies