2020
TV-MA
Amazon Prime Video
1 h 6 m

2020
TV-MA
Amazon Prime Video
1 h 6 m

Summary Alex Wheatle follows the true story of award-winning writer, Alex Wheatle (Sheyi Cole), from a young boy through his early adult years. Having spent his childhood in a mostly white institutional care home with no love or family, he finally finds not only a sense of community for the first time in Brixton, but his identity and ability to ...

Directed By: Steve McQueen

Written By: Alastair Siddons, Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Steve McQueen

2020
TV-MA
Amazon Prime Video
1 h 6 m

2020
TV-MA
Amazon Prime Video
1 h 6 m

Small Axe: Alex Wheatle

Name: Small Axe: Alex Wheatle
Genre: Drama, History
Released: 2020-12-11
Duration: 1 min 6 s
Rating: 77
Cast: Khali Best, Fumilayo Brown-Olateju, Riley Burgin, Ross Cahill, Sheyi Cole

Metascore Generally Favorable Based on 18 Critic Reviews

User Score Mixed or Average Based on 16 User Ratings

6.0

My Score

Hover and click to give a rating Saved

Directed By: Steve McQueen

Written By: Alastair Siddons, Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Steve McQueen

Critic Reviews

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Metascore

Generally Favorable Based on 18 Critic Reviews

89% Positive
16 Reviews

11% Mixed
2 Reviews

0% Negative
0 Reviews

All Reviews
Positive Reviews
Mixed Reviews
Negative Reviews

Critic Reviews

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Metascore

Generally Favorable Based on 18 Critic Reviews

89% Positive
16 Reviews

11% Mixed
2 Reviews

0% Negative
0 Reviews

All Reviews
Positive Reviews
Mixed Reviews
Negative Reviews

100

CineVue

Dec 6, 2020

Remarkably, this is Cole's first time in front of the camera. He approaches Alex’s emotional journey as a teenager with a sure touch, switching effortlessly between innocence and a gradual hardening.

By Lucy Popescu FULL REVIEW

LarsenOnFilm

Dec 10, 2020

Reggae music is a through line in almost all five installments of Steve McQueen’s Small Axe anthology, but in Alex Wheatle, it’s a lifeline.

By Josh Larsen FULL REVIEW

Variety

Dec 11, 2020

“Alex Wheatle” is like a sketch for the biopic it might have been, but by the end you feel you’ve glimpsed the key fragment of a life.

By Owen Gleiberman FULL REVIEW

RogerEbert.com

Dec 14, 2020

Even as a standalone feature, this installment falters by keeping its main character at arm’s length. We never get close enough to Alex Wheatle to feel as if we know him. Despite my mild dissatisfaction, I believe that distancing is on purpose, a part of the film’s design.

By Odie Henderson FULL REVIEW

IndieWire

Nov 29, 2020

It’s not episodic, but feels more like the first act of a larger story begging for further exploration. Nevertheless, with a complex, ever-evolving turn by newcomer Sheyi Cole at its center, the story it does offer up turns on McQueen’s usual sophisticated narrative techniques and the same striking penchant to render Black British culture in complex lyrical terms.

By Eric Kohn FULL REVIEW

Vox

Dec 9, 2020

Alex Wheatle plays like a conventional coming-of-age story, of sorts, but the film is a fitting addition to Small Axe, rounding out a picture of young manhood and serving up powerful images of isolation and courage.

By Alissa Wilkinson FULL REVIEW

The Playlist

Nov 30, 2020

Alex Wheatle combines the relevant themes that guide the prior “Small Axe” installments: music as an escape from one’s environment, police brutality, and a character adrift from his community — yet the writing struggles to connect the major plot points for big picture interpretations of Alex’s cultural self-education.

By Robert Daniels FULL REVIEW

See All 18 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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User Score

Mixed or Average Based on 16 User Ratings

6.0

44% Positive
7 Ratings

44% Mixed
7 Ratings

13% Negative
2 Ratings

User Reviews

View All

User Score

Mixed or Average Based on 16 User Ratings

6.0

44% Positive
7 Ratings

44% Mixed
7 Ratings

13% Negative
2 Ratings

There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.

Details

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Production Company BBC Films, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Turbine Studios, Lammas Park, EMU Films, BBC Studios Distribution, Six Temple Productions

Release Date Dec 11, 2020

Duration 1 h 6 m

Rating TV-MA

Genres

Website https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000q6rf

Small Axe: Alex Wheatle

Top Cast

Khali Best

Breadstick

Fumilayo Brown-Olateju

Dawn

Riley Burgin

Terry

Ross Cahill

Perry

Sheyi Cole

Alex Wheatle

Zakiyyah Deen

Rita

Elliot Edusah

Valin

Dexter Flanders

Floyd

Robbie Gee

Simeon

Jonathan Jules

Dennis Isaacs

Ashley McGuire

Cook

Asad-Shareef Muhammad

Young Alex

Johann Myers

Cutlass Rankin

Cecilia Noble

Mrs Isaacs

Louis J Rhone

Rankin's Dread

Xavien Russell

Friend at Lincoln's

Lennox Tuitt

Lincoln

Leah Walker

Beverley

Shanelle Young

Gloria Isaacs

Christopher Carrico

Driver, Social Worker

Critic Reviews

Critic Reviews

Critic Reviews

Critic Reviews

User Reviews

User Reviews

User Reviews

User Reviews

Details

Details

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