The Color Purple (2023)

The Color Purple is at its strongest when the whole town is singing, and a little less sure of itself in the quiet scenes where Celie is most alone. That’s a real cost in a story built on her loneliness. Blitz Bazawule’s musical follows Celie from a hard girlhood in 1909 Georgia, separated from her beloved sister Nettie and married off to a cruel farmer everyone calls Mister, to a life she slowly takes back. Fantasia Barrino carries that journey across decades with real grace. Danielle Brooks is the standout as Sofia, fierce, funny and heartbreaking, and Taraji P. Henson brings the glamour as Shug Avery. Dan Laustsen’s camera makes the old South look rich and lived in. Some of the dreamlike flourishes soar, and a few fall flat. It holds an 81% on Rotten Tomatoes and an A CinemaScore. A 7.7 because the joy here is earned, every bit of it. $55.77 says you call your sister, or whoever your Nettie is, and keep them on the phone way past bedtime.

What works: Danielle Brooks, Fantasia Barrino and Taraji P. Henson are a knockout trio, and the big ensemble numbers are full of life.

What doesn’t: The quieter solo scenes, where Celie’s loneliness should hit hardest, don’t land as powerfully as the big group numbers do.

Who it’s for: Musical fans, and anyone who loves Alice Walker’s novel and wants to hear the story told in song.