This latest adaptation of Alice Walker’s Pulitzer-winning tale of an African-American girl’s coming of age in early 20th-century Georgia takes its cue not from the 1985 Steven Spielberg movie but the noughties Broadway musical. Making her screen debut, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominee Fantasia Barrino reprises her stage role as the abused Celie, whose only respite comes from her bond with sister Nellie (radiant Little Mermaid star Halle Bailey).
Celie is handed over to cruel farmer Mister (Colman Domingo) to care for his home and ungrateful brood, but a lifeline arrives in the form of jazz singer Shug Avery (Taraji P. Henson). Although Mister is infatuated with Shug, she’s the one who helps set Celine on the path to sexual and spiritual empowerment.
