King Richard (2021)

King Richard earned Will Smith the 2022 Oscar for Best Actor as Richard Williams, a determined father raising two of the most extraordinarily gifted athletes of all time, tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams. King Richard was also up for five more Oscars, including Best Picture, Original Song for Beyoncé’s Be Alive, and Best Supporting Actress for Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor (Lovecraft Country, When They See Us) as the girls’ mom, Oracene “Brandi” Williams.

As the young Venus and Serena, both Saniyya Sidney (Hidden Figures, Fences) and Demi Singleton (Godfather of Harlem) were nominated for Outstanding Breakthrough Performance at the 2022 Black Reel Awards, where Sundance winner Reinaldo Marcus Green (We Own this City, Monsters and Men) was nominated for Outstanding Director.

King Richard has a 90% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes. “The Williams sisters’ saga is so improbably inspirational,” says FilmWeek critic Peter Rainer, “that watching their ascent, coupled with Smith’s crackerjack performance, had me grinning the entire time. It’s the most sheerly pleasurable movie I’ve seen so far this year.”