Regina King has been making waves as an actor for years. Now she steps behind the camera in her directorial debut of One Night in Miami. The story is a fictional account of the night four historical icons came together. Malcolm x, Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, and Sam Cooke. This was a delight to see onscreen. It was like watching a stage play.

Most of it takes place in a hotel room. The film stars Kingsley Ben-Adir, Eli Goree, Aldis Hodge, and Leslie Odom Jr. The drama was so heavy you could cut it with a knife. Malcolm X was a firecracker from start to finish, serving as somewhat of an antagonist. Cooke was intelligent, witty, and smooth. Ali served as the comic relief throughout the story while Brown was used sparingly. Albeit his words were impactful.

This felt like an intense lecture about the state of Black people in America. I learned a lot about the men’s respective lives but was left in wanting. It would have been nice to see more color and positivity. To see them interact in different spaces. Watching them in that room for 2 hours felt claustrophobic. In the end, One Night in Miami was another story of oppression. 7.5 out of 10