Rustin (2023)

Score: 4 / 5

In case, this Black History Month, you are called to remember Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, you would do well to view the recent Netflix original film Rustin. A dramatization of grassroots efforts that led to the famous 1963 March on Washington, the film feels urgent and timely as we culturally reel over the last election while looking ahead to an imminent rematch no one really wants to happen. It's a strident reminder of what we the people are truly capable of accomplishing together. But more than a survey of history, this film is a character study of its eponymous activist, Bayard Rustin, one of the great minds behind the march whose life and work in proximity to King were troubled once his queerness came out. This film, an ode to Rustin and intersectional politics, pulls no punches when it comes to confronting the tough stuff even as it earnestly teaches those of us not already in the know.

A heavy introduction to the film feels ripped from a documentary, reminding us of the boiling issues of segregation in the '50s and '60s with images of Ruby Bridges, Elizabeth Eckford, and Anne Moody enduring abuse as they worked toward integration. It's maybe a bit on the nose, and feels a bit gimmicky in so blatantly attention-grabbing, but it nonverbally reminds us that racism is more a social issue than a legal one before throwing us into Rustin's story, which is sort of emblematic of that very tension. Obviously he was targeted by anyone against racial equality, but the revelation of his homosexuality turned many of his fellow Black activists against him as well. 

Having now seen the film, I can say it provided a suitable introduction to the man whose name was the only thing I had previously known about him. It also whet my whistle in wanting to learn more about this queer man behind the man. In a similar way to the successes of Judas and the Black Messiah and The Trial of the Chicago 7, teaching and entertaining at once, Rustin works hard to be as pleasant to watch as it is informative. Despite surely learning about it in grade school, I was surprised to see the over 200,000 Black people descend on the Lincoln Memorial for one of the largest nonviolent protests America has ever seen. It effectively dramatized the various differing approaches to seeking justice, even within Black communities, and the conflicts that often arose between factions; for example, did you know that the NAACP initially discouraged the whole idea of the march?

It helps the drama of this story -- so concerned as it is, rightfully, with history -- to have an accomplished, nuanced, and authentically gay actor assuming the titular role. Colman Domingo, whose recent work has included such heavy hitters as Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (also with director George C. Wolfe), Candyman, and The Color Purple, hits yet another milestone here with a charismatic and rhetorically brilliant performance that highlights the wit and scope of the screenplay (penned by Dustin Lance Black and Julian Breece). The zingers and humor buttress -- and sometimes soften -- the more dangerous aspects of this story, which might not ring historically accurate but do help provide an "in" for us even as it helps differentiate what could otherwise be a dry sociopolitical rehashing of history.

Aml Ameen plays King very well; it's a thankless role sure to be forgotten in favor of, for example, David Oyelowo's performance in Selma, but Ameen plays wonderfully off Domingo, and the two share an electrifying chemistry. I'd have liked a bit more depth to their relationship through the dialogue, but the actors know how to share a lot of dynamics with only their faces and bodies. The two male characters with whom Rustin shares romance similarly share instantly believable and consistently interesting chemistry with Domingo, and I really appreciated the film's willingness to survey Rustin's somewhat needfully sordid private life in tandem with his rigorously organized social life. The character isn't reduced to an archetype or an icon on a timeline, but rather fully fleshed out in ways that enhance, rather than distract from, his legacy.