Blitz Bazawule has directed the upcoming American musical coming-of-age period drama movie The Color Purple which is based on the same-named stage musical both of which are adapted from Alice Walker’s 1982 same-named novel becoming the second feature film adaptation of the novel.
Fantasia Barrino, Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, Colman Domingo, Corey Hawkins, H.E.R., Ciara, Halle Bailey, Aunjanue Ellis, Louis Gossett Jr., David Alan Grier, Deon Cole are some of the cast members of the movie.
The Color Purple is set to be released on December 25, 2023, by Warner Bros. Pictures.
Following is a list of other films that deal with the theme of racism that you might want to give a try before watching The Color Purple.
Also Read: Top 10 Films Like Netflix Movie Love at First Sight.
Top 10 Films Like The Color Purple.
The Help (2011)-
Tate Taylor directed this film adapted from Kathryn Stockett’s same-named novel. The plot is set during the Civil Rights Movement of 1963, in Jackson, Mississippi, and finds aspiring young white author Skeeter deciding to write a book on African-American maids from their point of view to reveal their struggle-ridden lives as they work for white families and in the way developing a connection with two black maids Minny Jackson and Aibileen Clark.
The title of the movie refers to the fact that black domestic workers were called “the help” in 1960s America.
Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, and Jessica Chastain are some of the primary cast members of the movie.
Among them Davis was nominated for Academy Award for Best Actress and Spencer and Chastain were nominated for Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress with Spencer winning the award.
The movie was also nominated for Academy Award for Best Picture. It was released in the United States on August 10, 2011.
Mississippi Burning (1988)-
Alan Parker directed this crime thriller movie that is inspired by the 1964 murder investigation of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner in Mississippi.
The plot is set in the fictional Jessup County of Mississippi. It focuses on two FBI agents’ investigation into the case of the disappearance of three civil rights workers who faced hostility from the residents of the town as well as the local police and the Ku Klux Klan.
Gene Hackman, Willem Dafoe, Frances McDormand, and Brad Dourif are some of the main cast members of the movie.
The film received seven Academy Award nominations including Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress nominations for Hackman and McDormand respectively and Peter Biziou won for Best Cinematography. The movie was released in the United States on December 9, 1988.
Crash (2004)-
Paul Haggis directed this crime drama movie the plot of which revolves around a group of strangers in Los Angeles grappling with issues of class, gender, race, and family following the September 11 terror attacks in New York.
Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, Jennifer Esposito, and Brendan Fraser are some of the primary cast members of the movie.
It received six Academy Award nominations including Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Matt Dillon and controversially winning for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Film Editing.
The movie premiered at Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2004.
The Great Debaters (2007)-
Denzel Washington directed this American historical drama movie that is adapted from Tony Scherman’s 1997 article for American Legacy.
The plot follows the real-life trials and tribulations of Wiley College in Texas in 1935. The movie was released in the United States on December 25, 2007.
Passing (2021)-
Rebecca Hall directed this black-and-white period drama that is her directorial debut and is adapted from Nella Larsen’s same-named 1929 novel.
The plot is set in 1920s New York City and follows a black woman and her white-passing childhood friend along with their interwoven lives.
The film premiered at Sundance Film Festival on January 30, 2021, and was released in the United States on 27th October that year.
Monster’s Ball (2001)-
Marc Forster directed this romantic drama film the plot of which revolves around a prison guard named Hank (played by Billy Bob Thornton) who becomes smitten with a black woman Leticia Musgrove (played by Halle Berry) who happens to be the widow of a convicted murderer whose execution he was a part of.
The movie received two Academy Award nominations with Berry winning for Best Actress. It was released on February 8, 2002, in the United States.
Just Mercy (2019)-
Destin Daniel Cretton directed this biographical legal drama film the plot of which follows Harvard Law alumnus Bryan Stevenson’s determination to overturn Walter McMillian’s conviction and save him from death sentence.
Michael B. Jordan portrayed Bryan Stevenson with Jamie Foxx starring as Walter McMillian in the movie. It premiered at Toronto International Film Festival on September 6, 2019.
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)-
Robert Mulligan directed this legal drama film that is adapted by Horton Foote from the same named Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Harper Lee.
The movie received an overwhelmingly positive reception with eight Academy Award nominations including three wins among which one is for Gregory Peck as Best Actor. The film was released on December 25, 1962.
Marshall (2017)-
Reginald Hudlin directed this biographical legal drama movie that features the first African American Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall (played by Chadwick Boseman) and one of the first cases of his career. The movie was released in the United States on October 13, 2017.
Mudbound (2017)-
Dee Rees directed this historical drama film that is adapted from Hillary Jordan’s same-named 2008 novel. The plot revolves around white and black WWII veterans returning to rural Mississippi to address racism and PTSD.
The movie was nominated for four Academy Awards with Mary J. Blige becoming the first person to be nominated both for songwriting and acting, Dee Rees becoming the first African-American woman to ever be nominated and Rachel Morrison becoming the first woman to be nominated for Best Cinematography.
The film premiered at Sundance Film Festival on January 21, 2017.
