By Travis Johnson
St. Vincent director Theodore Melfi makes a play for the big time with this historical drama which tells the true story of female African American mathematician Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson) and her colleagues, Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monae), whose work at NASA helped make John Glenn (Glen Powell) the first man to orbit the earth.
That right there is some heady grist for the story mill – a time and place which encompasses the civil rights movement, the empowerment of women in the workforce and the space race. Plus, being an early ’60s period piece, it features Kevin Costner, as is only proper.
Hidden Figures hits Australian cinemas on February 23, 2017.
