man the gift of a broken soul, driven by anger and trauma, and makes him all the more human for it. His final moments of screen time are among his darkest, and also his finest." Eric Kohn of IndieWire gave the film a "B" grade and praised Boseman and Davis's performances, saying: "All of this would be more concerning if Ma Rainey's Black Bottom didn't turn on Wilson's crackling dialogue and a jazzy pace on par with the music. Above all, the movie amounts to a solid resurrection that doesn't muck up the bulk of what made the play click in the first place." Peter Travers, reviewing the film for ABC News, said: "Davis plays the real-life Ma Rainey, the Georgia singer dubbed the Mother of the Blues. Boseman invests body and soul into Levee, the hot-headed trumpeter who dares to lock horns with Ma in a shabby Chicago recording studio where they're paid to make music the way the white bosses want it. The time is 1927, but the bristling racial tensions feel as timely as ever." Accolades References External links "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" - lyrics 2020 biographical drama films 2020 LGBT-related films 2020s American films 2020s English-language films African-American biographical dramas African-American LGBT-related films African-American films American films based on plays American biographical drama films Biographical films about LGBT people Biographical films about singers Black people in art Blues films Cultural depictions of American women Cultural depictions of blues musicians Escape Artists films 2020 independent films English-language Netflix original films Female bisexuality in film Films directed by George C. Wolfe Films produced by Denzel Washington Films set in 1927 Films set in Chicago Films shot in Pittsburgh Films that won the Academy Award for Best Makeup Films that won the Best Costume Design Academy Award LGBT-related drama films