Alex Wheatle (film)
Alex Wheatle is a 2020 historical drama film directed by Steve McQueen and co-written by McQueen and Alastair Siddons. It stars Sheyi Cole as Alex Wheatle, a Black British novelist who was sentenced to a term of imprisonment after the 1981 Brixton uprising. The film was released as part of the anthology series Small Axe on BBC One on 6 December 2020 and on Amazon Prime Video on 11 December 2020.[1]
| Alex Wheatle | |
|---|---|
| Written by | Steve McQueen Alastair Siddons |
| Directed by | Steve McQueen |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Running time | 66 minutes |
| Distributor | BBC One Amazon Prime Video |
| Release | |
| Original release |
|
Cast
- Sheyi Cole as Alex Wheatle
- Asad-Shareef Muhammad as Young Alex Wheatle
- Robbie Gee as Simeon
- Johann Myers as Cutlass Rankin
- Jonathan Jules as Dennis Isaacs
- Elliot Edusah as Valin
- Khali Best as Badger
- Fumilayo Brown-Olateju as Dawn
- Dexter Flanders as Floyd
Reception
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 97% based on 43 critic reviews, with an average rating of 7.4/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Sheyi Cole shines in Alex Wheatle, a harrowing biopic that barely scratches the surface of a complex life, but does so with empathy and finesse."[2] Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 77 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews."[3]
References
- Kanter, Jake (7 October 2020). "'Small Axe': Steve McQueen's Anthology Drama Gets BBC Premiere Date". Deadline. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
- "Alex Wheatle (2020)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
- "Alex Wheatle Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 18 December 2020.