A Story That I’m so Glad Was Able to Be Told

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MOVIE REVIEW
Voodoo Macbeth
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Genre: Drama
Year Released: 2022
Runtime: 1h 48m
Director(s): Dagmawi Abebe, Victor Alonso-Berbel, Hannah Bang, Christopher Beaton, Agazi Desta, Zoë Salnave, Roy Arwas, Tiffany K. Guillen, Ernesto Sandoval, Sabina VajraÄa
Writer(s): Erica Sutherlin, Agazi Desta, Morgan Milender, Jennifer Frazin, Molly Miller, Amri Rigby, Joel David Santner, Chris Tarricone
Cast: Inger Tudor, Jewell Wilson Bridges, June Schreiner, Jeremy Tardy, Ashli Haynes, Daniel Kuhlman, Wrekless Watson, Gary McDonald, Hunter Bodine
Where To Watch: premiering theatrically in New York and Los Angeles on October 21, 2022, with additional markets to follow

RAVING REVIEW: Based on actual events, this film shocked me at every turn. I wasn’t expecting this level of intensity.

What initially sold me was the inclusion of 20-year-old Orson Welles; no, this isn’t an old film; this is somewhat of an origin story of the acclaimed director as he took on a production of MACBETH in Harlem in 1936, staring an all-black cast. What could go wrong?

This exceeded my expectations in every way possible, with a strong performance by newcomer Jewell Wilson Bridges as Welles but even more so was Inger Tudor’s (primarily known for her numerous television roles) portrayal of acclaimed actress Rose McClendon.

I was biased toward my appreciation of Welles, which initially drew me to this film; that isn’t what kept me hooked, though. I appreciated Bridges' version of a young Welles, but the story is what stole the primary focus for me. Seeing the struggle, hurdles, and battles that this production had and the success it was able to achieve was entrancing.

The film had ten directors and eight writers, yet the story was nearly seamless. That says so much about the ultimate goal and direction of the film. There was a page that this team wanted to tell about Federal Theatre Project and this game-changing production. They weren’t afraid of handling the controversy and didn’t need to paint Welles in perfect light.

Thankfully some footage of the original productions still exists partly because of the 1937 film WE WORK AGAIN. I love that Welles went on to say that this production was one of the greatest successes in his life.

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