Beauty is written and produced by Emmy-winning actor/producer Lena Waithe (The Chi, Queen & Slim, Master of None) and stars up and coming actress Gracie Marie Bradley (Grown-ish) as Beauty, along with an impressive and talented cast.
Beauty is a young, gifted and quietly confident singer on the brink of stardom. She’s been preparing for this her whole life – practicing and studying the great signers who have come before her. We watch her journey as she navigates love, as a gay women in the 1980s, along with family issues, living at home with a demanding mother (Niecey Nash) who is bitter about her singing career that never took off, and a father (Giancarlo Esposito) who sees her fame as his only chance at wealth and self-worth.
Amidst this chaos, Beauty’s girlfriend, Jasmine (Aleyse Shannon), is a supportive voice of reason and turns out to be the most level- headed person in her inner circle.
Things begin to move fast for our young ingenue when she meets a New York record label executive (played by Sharon Stone) who recognizes her talent and beauty and takes her under her wing. But of course, for the sake of her pristine image, Beauty’s relationship with Jasmine is never to be spoken of.
Set in New Jersey in the 1980s, this story is almost beat by beat the story of Whitney Houston and her speculated love life. Beauty is tall, very slender, with a short cropped curly afro, just like young Whitney. Additionally, Jasmine bears an uncanny resemblance to Houston’s longtime friend Robyn Crawford who claims to be Whitney’s former lover. Jasmine shares the same complexion, short haircut and winning smile as Crawford. I’m not sure why the filmmakers wouldn’t just say, the film is based on Houston’s rise to stardom? Legal reasons maybe?
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Beauty’s incredible soundtrack takes you down memory lane with musical breaks. Throughout the film we watch Beauty become entranced by musical performances by singers of yester year. Pattie Labelle, Aretha Franklin, Mavis Staples and more are constantly playing on her television and in her head.
Beauty is directed by Andrew Dosunmu (Mother of George, Restless City) and written by Lena Waithe, with notable and gripping performances from Niecey Nash and Giancarlo Esposito. The drama is a story of love, identity and the pressures that come along with fame.
Beauty is set for streaming release on Netflix June 29, 2022.
CAST & CREDITS
Directed by Andrew Dosunmu
Andrew Dosunmu is a prolific director whose visual language focuses on the humanity and beauty of global cultures. His features include Restless City (2011), Mother of George (2013), and Sundance hit Where is Kyra? (2017) starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Kiefer Sutherland. His upcoming film Beauty premieres on Netflix this summer.
DIRECTOR
Andrew Dosunmu
PRODUCER
Lena Waithe p.g.a.
Michael Ellenberg p.g.a.
SCREENWRITER
Lena Waithe
CINEMATOGRAPHER
Benoît Delhomme
EDITOR
Christopher Tellefsen
Oriana Soddu
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Carrie Fix
Andrew Dosunmu
Rishi Rajani
CAST
Niecy Nash
Aleyse Shannon
Giancarlo Esposito
Gracie Marie Bradley
Kyle Bary
Michael Ward
Sharon Stone
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