Ivan Radford | On 13, Mar 2024

Director: George C Wolfe
Cast: Colman Domingo, Aml Ameen, Chris Rock, Glynn Turman
Certificate: 15

Colman Domingo. After his scene-stealing turns in Fear the Walking Dead, Euphoria, Zola and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, his name finally gets the recognition it deserves this spring, with an Oscar nomination for his leading turn in the biopic Rustin. Its subject, Bayard Rustin, is a far less familiar name – even less so for UK audiences – and that gives Netflix’s film an added punch.

Bayard was one of the key figures behind the 1963 March on Washington, and stood just behind Martin Luther King Jr (the excellent Aml Ameen) as he delivered his iconic “I have a dream” speech. But his story hasn’t really been passed down through the history books, and George C Wolfe’s film captures the layers of discrimination that are partly the reason for that omission.

Even as he attempts to organise the historic march, his contribution to the civil rights movement is undermined by those around him. That’s largely due to his sexuality being an open secret, after an arrest in Pasadena years before our film begins. Rustin’s role within the movement is constantly opposed by threats of exposing a supposed affair between Rustin and King – an affair that was entirely fictitious. The fear of having the movement – and the march – discredited, though, left Rustin with enemies both within and outside of the movement, most notably from NAACP leader Roy Wilkins (Chris Rock).

Julian Breece and Dustin Lance Black’s screenplay is relatively conventional, but it finds rich depth in the tension between Bayard’s self-acceptance and his acceptance by his peers, in his commitment to equality for all and the bigotry that still leaves him feeling less than. That gives a moving weight to the line between his private and public self, and seeing him journey towards that weight being lifted from his shoulders is surprisingly, sincerely emotional.

All this wouldn’t work without Colman Domingo’s performance, and the direction of Wolfe – a theatre veteran – gives him the breathing room he needs to fill up the screen. Domingo is charisma personified, disappearing behind Bayard’s missing front teeth to present a charming figure whose ability to rouse any room into action is at once remarkable and utterly believable. Accompanied by an energetic jazz score, Domingo’s relentless, funny, vulnerable and poignant presence seems to propel the film and its rapid editing onwards with a momentum that’s irresistible.

The result is a deserving portrait of a figure who shouldn’t be forgotten to history – and a welcome showcase for an electric actor who demands our attention.

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