X
- 2020
- TV-MA
- Amazon Prime Video
- 2 h 7 m
- 2020
- TV-MA
- Amazon Prime Video
- 2 h 7 m
Summary Mangrove tells the story of a restaurant and its owner in London’s Notting Hill; repeated police harassment leads to a protest march where nine arrests are made and result in a show trial at the Old Bailey in 1971, making legal history.
Directed By: Steve McQueen
Written By: Alastair Siddons, Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Steve McQueen
- 2020
- TV-MA
- Amazon Prime Video
- 2 h 7 m
- 2020
- TV-MA
- Amazon Prime Video
- 2 h 7 m
Small Axe: Mangrove
7.5
Summary Mangrove tells the story of a restaurant and its owner in London’s Notting Hill; repeated police harassment leads to a protest march where nine arrests are made and result in a show trial at the Old Bailey in 1971, making legal history.
Directed By: Steve McQueen
Written By: Alastair Siddons, Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Steve McQueen
Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 27 Critic Reviews
90
100% Positive
27 Reviews
27 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 27 Critic Reviews
90
100% Positive
27 Reviews
27 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Mangrove is a necessary and exhilarating illustration of the staying power of Black Britons.
As with McQueen’s previously premiered Small Axe film, Lovers Rock, there is real fervour and real meaning here: it is film-making with visceral commitment and muscular storytelling.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 49 User Ratings
7.5
84% Positive
41 Ratings
41 Ratings
2% Mixed
1 Rating
1 Rating
14% Negative
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 49 User Ratings
7.5
84% Positive
41 Ratings
41 Ratings
2% Mixed
1 Rating
1 Rating
14% Negative
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
Very thought provoking film with some amazing direction by Steve McQueen and lead performance.
Report
Mangrove elevates the oft-creaky genre of the courtroom drama with striking, evocative compositions, stunning performances, and a real sense of place.
A history lesson doesn’t have to be a lecture, and at its best, Mangrove, with its clear and painful implications for the present, conveys the sense of a world in motion, as the possibility of something new comes into being.
By making Frank the quiet focus of the movie, Mangrove becomes a document of both history and humanity—the story of a man rightly radicalized by the institutions oppressing him.
Education is everything, and Mangrove, conventional though it may be, is still a radical step on the way to societal self-examination.
It’s unclear what if anything Mr. McQueen or his co-writer, Alastair Siddons, lifted from judicial transcripts, but the inherent boundaries of a courtroom help give more shape and momentum to the storytelling. The setting also allows the characters to stop telling each other things they’d never say.
Although he manipulates certain aspects to overload the drama, Steve McQueen shows his nimble hand in this solid and content courtroom drama.
The only thing that surprised me is that despite the length, there are many one-dimensional characters, especially policemen who are only portrayed as simple villains.
Not that we need a lot of depth on fundamentally racist characters, but at one point in the repeated raids, these look like simple cartoonish characters.
Beyond that point, McQueen delivers a little movie that makes a lot more noise than the bombastic The Trial of the Chicago 7.
Ironically, one is nominated for the Academy Awards, and this is just one piece from a television anthology.
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I haven’t watched any Steve McQueen films until now and I had to say that I was blown away. This film was incredibly on a storytelling perspective. McQueen does an excellent job at making the audience feel for his characters and understand the story behind them and the events surrounding the story. Each character, who is a real person by the way, is interesting and this is mostly due to the performances and writing. Letitia Wright’s performance is easily one of my favorite of the year and I really hope that she gets recognition for it. Every other performance here is great to. There is not one bad performance in this film. Everyone does an outstanding job and it seems like this film will get that recognition for its performances. The writing is top notch. I can tell from his writing that McQueen is interested in telling this story and the way he writes his dialogue is perfect. His direction is also very well done too. This man knows what he is doing. The story follows 9 African American’s put on trial for a protest that was squashed by the police and made to look like a riot. A lot of this film is in court and usually, movies that primarily focus on court cases don’t do a lot for me but this was special. I was always engaged in these scenes. We get to see a different side of the police around the world, not just in America and it’s infuriating to see how grossly the police were in this scenario. My main issue with the film was that sometimes, the cinematography felt a little stale. Most of my issues are with the beginning of the film in fact. It’s just not as interesting as the rest of the film. I’m not saying that the first part was boring but I was way more investing in everything after the beginning of the film. This a great film for anyone to check out if they want a compelling story or another knock out of the park from Steve McQueen.
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Production Company
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC),
BBC Film,
Turbine Studios,
Lammas Park,
EMU Films,
BBC Studios Distribution,
Six Temple Productions
Release Date Nov 20, 2020
Duration 2 h 7 m
Rating TV-MA
Awards
Odyssey Awards
• 2 Nominations
