“Hidden Figures” is 100% a must-see. This movie released Friday, January 6th of 2017 is about 3 African American women with first-rate minds working at NASA in 1961. They had to battle discrimination, not only for their race, but for their gender everyday from their white co-workers to reach their goals. Taraji P. Henson played Katherine Goble Johnson, a mathematician, Octavia Spencer played Dorothy Vaughan, a mathematician and supervisor, and Janelle Monae played Mary Jackson, NASA’s first black female engineer.

This movie was directed by Theodore Melfi, an American screenwriter, film director and producer, known for directing St. Vincent, a movie released in 2014.

According to Box Office Mojo, “Hidden Figures” has made a domestic total of about $120 million and a worldwide total of about $128 million. It was the #1 movie for 3 weeks straight and beat “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”’s $21.9 million opening weekend with $22.8 million.

The plot of this movie was not the most original, delving into racism and sexism from the 60s, but the outstanding talent of the cast made that almost unnoticeable. On the website rotten tomatoes, top critic Lenika Cruz said, “Hidden Figures doesn’t try to push many artistic boundaries, but it tells its story so well that it doesn’t really have to.”

On Fandango, a 5 star rating from the fans and a 92% on rotten tomatoes, is followed by countless positive 5 star reviews.
“Powerful, uplifting, important movie. I watched with my hand over my heart for half the movie. Joyous and real at the same time,” said a commentator on Fandango.

“Hidden Figures” combines the perfect amount of drama with occasional one liners as comedy relief. Katherine has one especially memorable scene when she yells at all of her co-workers and Al Harrison (Kevin Costner), the director of the Space Task Group, explaining how far she has to walk to use the colored bathroom since there is no colored bathroom in their building.

There is also a family aspect shown through strong, emotional scenes with the families of Katherine, Octavia, and Mary. Overall, this movie depicted the amazing story of three hidden figures from history and created an impactful story that reaches out to the heart and uplifts everyone who watches it. I recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys a good movie about black and female empowerment.