Daveed Diggs – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

MOVIE OF THE WEEK May 15, 2026: MAGIC HOUR

May 10, 2026May 11, 2026 Jennifer Merin betsy bozdech, Brad Garrett, Cate Marquis, Daveed Diggs, greenwich entertainment, jennifer merin, Katie Aselton, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, loren king, Magic Hour, mark duplass, monique jones, motw, Movie of the Week, nell minow, sandie angulo chen, Susan Sullivan

It’s tricky to discuss Katie Aselton’s poignant relationship drama Magic Hour without revealing the story twists that give it such a powerful emotional punch. The writer-director-star crafts the first act of her film very carefully, setting viewers’ expectations and then challenging them. The result is both romantic and touching, with memorable performances by Aselton and co-star Daveed Diggs and a gorgeous, haunting setting amid the singular landscape of Joshua Tree.

Reviews

MAGIC HOUR – Review by Monique Jones

May 4, 2026May 10, 2026 Monique Jones Brad Garrett, Daveed Diggs, greenwich entertainment, Katie Aselton, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, loren king, Magic Hour, mark duplass, motw, Movie of the Week, Susan Sullivan

Magic Hour can be a powerful release for viewers who feel that film can help process the wildness of grief. The film shows how hard it can be to let go, and I think that can give some viewers a feeling of comfort. Too often, film and TV portray grief as something easy to get over, but it’s refreshing to see Magic Hour show the struggle in finding a “new normal” after death.

Reviews

NICKEL BOYS – Review by Diane Carson

January 7, 2025January 12, 2025 Diane Carson aunjanue ellis-taylor, Brandon Wilson, Daveed Diggs, Dozier School for Boys, Ethan Herisse, Hamish Linklater, Joslyn Barnes, Nickel Boys, ramell ross

Nickel Boys delivers an imaginative drama of friendship countering racism. Incorporating appalling events from the real-life Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys, director RaMell Ross’s Nickel Boys adapts Colson Whitehead’s 2019 novel detailing brutality at that juvenile reformatory. After a 2012 forensic anthropology survey documented numerous unmarked graves and over 100 deaths, further investigation authenticated barbaric treatment at this Florida reform site for over one hundred years, 1900 to 2011.

Reviews

NICKEL BOYS – Review by Valerie Kalfrin

November 23, 2024 Valerie Kalfrin aunjanue ellis-taylor, Brandon Wilson, Daveed Diggs, Dozier School for Boys, Ethan Herisse, Hamish Linklater, Joslyn Barnes, Nickel Boys, ramell ross

Nickel Boys is a drama of memory and resolve, of paths that cross and lives that change in immutable ways. Based on Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 2019 novel about the unconscionable abuse at a Florida boys reform school during the Jim Crow era, it’s a powerful, evocative story of friendship, pain, survival, and redemption. The film demonstrates the value in excavating the past for a better future, something this country often stubbornly refuses to do. (The current push to remove language about racism from government initiatives and school curricula makes this story as relevant as it is timeless.) The past might be wrenching and uncomfortable, but it never stays buried, and only by reaching out to each other can we fully heal.

Festivals Reviews

NICKEL BOYS – (Middleburg FF 2024) – Review by Leslie Combemale

October 23, 2024October 22, 2024 Leslie Combemale aunjanue ellis-taylor, black lives matter, Brandon Wilson, Daveed Diggs, Dozier School, Ethan Herisse, Hamish Linklater, Middleburg FF 2024, Middleburg Film Festival, Nickel Academy, ramell ross

The narrative feature of the same name was shown at Middleburg Film Festival as the closing film, and what a way to go out. An Oscar nominee for his evocative and visually compelling 2018 documentary Hale County This Morning, This Evening, RaMell Ross uses the same subjective and artistic lens for this new film, his first narrative feature. Nickel Boys is shown entirely from the perspectives of Elwood (Ethan Herisse) and Turner (Brandon Wilson), which creates not only a very artistic vision of their experiences, but also demands the audience live their journeys with them, in all their hopeful or horrific detail.

Reviews

THE LITTLE MERMAID – Review by Susan Granger

May 28, 2023June 3, 2023 Susan Granger Daveed Diggs, David Magee, disney, Halle Bailey, javier bardem, Melissa McCarthy, rob marshall, THE LITTLE MERMAID

Why this live-action remake of Disney’s beloved 1989 animated classic? Because it’s “woke” 2023 – when audiences may want to see a more dutiful, diversity-aware approach to race and gender in The Little Mermaid. Sweetly guileless Ariel (Grammy-nominated Halle Bailey) is one of King Triton’s many, multiethnic mermaid daughters. Despite her widowed father’s disapproval, she avidly collects artifacts from the human world that she scavenges from shipwrecks with the help of her fish friend Flounder and Scuttle, a squawking seagull.

Reviews

THE LITTLE MERMAID – Review by Valerie Kalfrin

May 23, 2023May 28, 2023 Valerie Kalfrin Daveed Diggs, David Magee, disney, Halle Bailey, javier bardem, Melissa McCarthy, rob marshall, THE LITTLE MERMAID

Disney’s new live-action take on The Little Mermaid goes along swimmingly in its sweet romance, but it doesn’t diverge enough from its animated roots to truly make a splash. First things first: The charming Halle Bailey gets Ariel endearingly right, from her innocent optimism to unquenchable curiosity. Unfairly targeted with racist vitriol after the initial trailers, Bailey is a likable lead, and it’s easy to imagine young mermaid fans loving her and her sisters, who also are women of different races. The Little Mermaid is adorable enough in parts, but its story largely stays on the surface. Like Ariel in “Part of Your World,” I wanted more.

Reviews

THE LITTLE MERMAID – Review by Susan Kamyab

May 22, 2023May 22, 2023 Susan Kamyab Daveed Diggs, disney, Halle Bailey, javier bardem, Melissa McCarthy, rob marshall, THE LITTLE MERMAID

Thanks to the committed cast and their captivating performances, this is one of the few Disney live-actions I’m happy with. And if there was any reason for this remake in particular, it was to have Halle Bailey play Ariel. Baily shines as Ariel. Her voice is breathtaking and she’s a talented actor. It’s also heartwarming to know that so many young girls are going to get to see themselves represented through such an iconic Disney Classic.

Reviews

HAMILTON – Review by Susan Granger

July 6, 2020July 6, 2020 Susan Granger 0 Comments alexander hamilton, Daveed Diggs, disney, hamilton, lin-manuel miranda., Phillipa Soo, thomas kail

Five years ago, theatergoers and critics were dazzled by this vivacious, culturally significant musical about the nation’s first Treasury secretary, political mastermind Alexander Hamilton. Now you can see the thrilling, live-capture, the 161-minute film version with the original principal Broadway cast.

Reviews

HAMILTON – Review by Martha K Baker

July 2, 2020July 3, 2020 Martha K. Baker (Archived Contributor) 0 Comments alexander hamilton, Daveed Diggs, declan quinn, disney, hamilton, Jonathan Groff, lin manuel mirands, Phillipa Soo, thomas kail

Concerning this televised version of Hamilton, analyst Soraya McDonald asked in a recent essay, “What now?” If Hamilton turned a “revolution into a revelation” when it opened in 2015, she wrote, how is its take on history going to be viewed today, with revolution in the streets?