Harriet (2019)

It is hard to  believe but this is the first cinematic rendition of an American icon's life.  Harriet Tubman’s incredible story translates well to the silver screen. Yet somehow, the renowned icon, among the most celebrated freedom fighters of American history, has never been given a major movie to her name before. This is a careful and not too violent retelling of Tubman’s rousing tale, while we still wait for the delayed issuing of the new $20 bill slated to honor her legacy. It’s one that involves peerless contributions to abolitionism with hundreds of lives saved, after Tubman, played by a stirring Cynthia Erivo here, escaped from the hands of her slaveholders in the Maryland of 1849 at great risk and steadily became a fearless, storied conductor on the Underground Railroad.
There is a bit of a heavy hand on divine intervention (which may reflect Harriet's true story), coupled with wiliness and a reliance on the North Star and an intricate group of safe houses along the way.  Many people risked their life and property to bring slaves to freedom before the Civil War, and this is equal parts bravery on the part of the liberators and cruelty on the part of slave hunters and owners.  The sadism that ownership of another human brings out in people is well depicted here, and is a backdrop for what we are seeing reemerge in public discourse today.