Ahead of its theatrical release on September 16, The Woman King has been getting terrific responses at the Toronto International Film Festival. The performances, production design, and fight scenes have all been singled out as positives, but the movie also deserves credit for shining a light on a part of history that most viewers may not know about.
The Woman King is the latest in a long line of films that use a lesser-known historical event as the focal point of their story, and hopefully increases interest in the true story as a result. For viewers looking to learn about some incredible, often forgotten history, the following movies have a lot to recommend.
Amistad (1997)
Stream On Paramount+
Steven Spielberg spent the '70s and '80s redefining blockbusters, so going to heavier dramatic fare was the next logical step. Coming in between heavy hitters like Saving Private Ryan, Amistad may not have been a huge box office hit, but it earned positive reviews for its engaging story and terrific performances.
Amistad focuses on the legal battle that ensued after a group of African men, having taken over the slave transport La Amistad, were captured and sold into slavery. While the film has received criticism for its historical inaccuracies, it's still a powerful drama that shows how good people can improve a corrupt system.
Anthropoid (2016)
Stream On Prime
World War II may be one of the most well-known historical events today, but it was such an expansive conflict that plenty of smaller stories get lost in the shuffle. Enter Anthropoid, a thriller about the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, one of the prime architects of the Holocaust.
Anthropoid remains relatively obscure, but it's a tense, engaging story that packs quite the punch in the final act. It also features solid performances from the entire cast, particularly Jamie Dornan, who as Czech agent Jan Kubiš proves that he can do far more than Christian Grey.
Bridge Of Spies (2015)
Rent On Apple TV
Another historical drama from Steven Spielberg, Bridge of Spies is a Cold War story following lawyer James Donovan as he is put in charge of a prisoner exchange between the US and USSR. With a script co-written by the Coen brothers, the film is a more grounded look at espionage that focuses heavily on its geopolitical consequences.
Tom Hanks gives a great performance as Donovan, but Bridge of Spies' true highlight of the film is Mark Rylance as Soviet spy Rudolf Abel. Rylance, a longtime veteran of the British stage, won an Academy Award for Best ing Actor for the role, and was able to parlay it into a bigger Hollywood career.
Conspiracy (2001)
Stream On HBO Max
The architects of the Holocaust make for some loathsome protagonists, but that doesn't mean their story can't be interesting. Conspiracy tells the story of the Wannsee Conference, a meeting at which Reinhard Heydrich and Adolf Eichmann laid the groundwork for the mass murder of Europe's Jewish population.
One of Conspiracy's greatest strengths is its examination of the Nazis' mindsets, portraying them as evil men while never making them cartoonish. It also features a terrific ensemble cast, led by Kenneth Branagh giving one of his most chilling performances to date.
Hacksaw Ridge (2016)
Rent On Vudu
If one is looking for an impactful World War II movie Hacksaw Ridge. Evidently, there were a lot of people looking for that, since the movie was a box office hit that earned positive reviews, particularly for Andrew Garfield's performance.
Hacksaw Ridge tells the story of Desmond Doss, who as a Christian pacifist who wanted to serve his country, became a combat medic and became the first conscientious objector to receive the Medal of Honor. Doss is an extremely sympathetic lead, being kind, sensitive, and faithful to his beliefs, making it easy to see why he earned the respect of his fellow soldiers.
Hidden Figures (2016)
Stream On Disney+
One of 2016's biggest sleeper hits, Hidden Figures is an effective period drama with a lot of heart, courtesy of stars like Taraji P. Henson and Octavia Spencer. It's also important for highlighting African American trailblazers in an underappreciated STEM field, especially since those stories are rarely told onscreen.
The film features Henson, Spencer, and Janelle Monáe as a trio of Black female mathematicians working at NASA, who played an important role in the early days of the Space Race. While the astronauts involved are often household names, it's inspiring to see the people with their feet on the ground get their time to shine.
In The Name Of The Father (1993)
Rent on Apple TV
The history of the British Isles is fraught with conflict, with one of the most recent being the aptly named The Troubles in Northern Island. In the Name of the Father is based on the story of Gerry Conlon, who along with his father and two friends, was imprisoned for 15 years for a bombing he did not commit.
Daniel Day-Lewis is known for taking method acting to the extreme, but his performance as Conlon is remarkably restrained, letting him show a different dimension of his immense acting talent. He makes Conlon's plight a sad, frightening one, and he has excellent chemistry with co-star Pete Postlethwaite.
Joyeux Noël (2005)
Stream On Tubi
Films about World War I have recently come into vogue, with the likes of 1917 realistically showing the brutality of the "war to end all wars." In contrast, Joyeux Noël spotlights one of the conflict's rare heartwarming events, with the story revolving around the Christmas truce of 1914.
The ensemble cast, featuring Daniel Brühl, Diane Kruger, and Gary Lewis, among others, all do great work, bringing a lot of humanity to the story that keeps it from feeling saccharine. Despite the sweetness of the holiday celebration, Joyeux Noël is also surprisingly melancholy, especially when one knows that it ultimately can't end well.
The Last Duel (2021)
Stream On Hulu & HBO Max
Ridley Scott's medieval epic The Last Duel may have been a box office bomb, but it's also his most recent masterpiece. Adapting the non-fiction book detailing the circumstances that led to the final "trial by combat" in , the movie is an intimate drama about power, memory, and the role of women in a patriarchal society.
One of The Last Duel's most interesting aspects is its Rashomon-like storytelling, where the audience gets to see the same events filtered through the three main characters' very different perspectives. The titular duel is also a masterful climax and was a (mostly) faithful recreation of contemporary s.
The Woman King (2022)
See In Theaters
African history is not a common subject for Hollywood movies, so The Woman King is ready to fill a void that urgently needs it. The movie's focus is on the Agojie, a small army of female warriors sworn to protect the kingdom of Dahomey, as they defend their home from European invaders in the early 19th century.
If The Woman King proves to be a success, it could spark more interest in African historical epics that spotlight some of the continent's most "cinematic" stories. As stated before, the movie has already been getting positive word of mouth, so it's not out of the question.