True feel good story about conquering racism by working together.

Rating: 7/10 (21 April 2018)

This movie starts out somewhat slow, but wait and get rewarded with a tremendous feel good end part. What 's the story? The americans want to be the first to put a man on the moon in the sixties. In those days when toilets and buses still had seperate places for people of color it was a big surprise for me to find out that a lot of very smart african-american ladies were the DECISIVE help for this succes to put the first man on the moon. 3 african-american ladies in particular were absolute whizkids who outsmarted any Nasa mathematician of that time. Incredible true story.
Mind you racism against african americans in those days was really violent and widespread. Martin Luther King got shot late in the sixties, a year before the actual moonlanding. Amidst that chaos in american civil rights history, these african american ladies helped out with the mathematical calculations that were absolutely necessary to succesfully put the first man on the moon. Fascinating story, that is really well acted too, by relatively unknown actresses!
The story describes the conflicts these ladies get into when they have to endure the racism of their fellow collegues at NASA. This may sound all very heavy, but on the contrary, this film achieves a definite feel good mood, while handling very serious race issues.
Very safe and predictable feel good story, despite the serious issue of racism. Made with the intent to offend nobody. No violence is shown. Everybody becomes a winner in the end. An almost fairytale like telling of a history of racism. That's my only criticism: it is very sweet and rosey, the way that period was depicted. There is even some romance in it and also some good humor. But this sugarcoated movie has got the advantage that it can be seen by kids too. And that's important, because they have to learn about this part of american history. "Hidden Figures" is a fascinating TRUE story, that is an uplifting and inspiring tale, about conquering racism by working together.