The Color Purple

The Color Purple is a musical drama adapted from Alice Walker's novel, following Celie, an African American woman in the early twentieth-century American South. Married off as a teenager to a cruel man she calls Mister, she is separated from her sister Nettie and endures years of abuse while raising his children. Her life shifts when Shug Avery, a singer who is Mister's lover, enters the household and becomes her friend. Across decades, Celie's relationships with Shug and other women around her, including the strong-willed Sofia, gradually move her toward independence and a reunion she has long hoped for.

Blitz Bazawule directs, his second feature after Black Is King, from a screenplay by Marcus Gardley. The film was produced by Steven Spielberg, Quincy Jones and Oprah Winfrey, all connected to earlier versions of the story. Fantasia Barrino plays Celie, with Taraji P. Henson as Shug, Danielle Brooks as Sofia, Colman Domingo as Mister and Corey Hawkins as Harpo. The production had a budget of 90 million dollars and returned 68 million worldwide.

Critical response was moderately positive, with a critics' rating of 7.2 out of 10 from 256 reviews. On IMDb it holds 6.8 out of 10 from around 20,000 votes, while on TMDB it averages 7 out of 10 from 378 votes, showing broad agreement between critics and audiences.