The Six Triple Eight

The Six Triple Eight is a 2024 American war drama film written and directed by Tyler Perry on the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, an all-black, all-female battalion, in World War II. It is based on the article "Fighting a Two-Front War" by Kevin M. Hymel. The film features an ensemble cast, including Kerry Washington, Ebony Obsidian, Milauna Jackson, Shanice Shantay, Sarah Jeffery, Pepi Sonuga, Gregg Sulkin, Susan Sarandon, Dean Norris, Sam Waterston, Kylie Jefferson, Moriah Brown, and Oprah Winfrey.
The Six Triple Eight was released in select cinemas on December 6, 2024. The film's featured song, "The Journey" was nominated for Best Original Song at the 97th Academy Awards. The film won all five of its nominations at the 56th NAACP Image Awards, including Outstanding Motion Picture and acting wins for Washington, Obsidian, and the ensemble cast.
A West Virginian mother waits daily for news from her two sons serving overseas. Meanwhile, childhood friends Lena and Abram face the difficulty of their budding romance (Lena is black, and Abram is Jewish) in 1940s Philadelphia as Abram prepares to deploy, after promising Lena's mother that when he returns from the war, he will come to her house and court Lena properly. When Abram is killed in action after becoming a fighter pilot, the heartbroken Lena vows to enlist upon graduation.
On the train to Georgia for basic training, Lena meets other enlistees, who will become her friends. Captain Charity Adams and Lieutenant Noel Campbell train them. Despite being well-trained, the battalion is not shipped out.
One day, the West Virginian mother convinces Eleanor Roosevelt at the White House that, across the country, no one is receiving mail from their relatives fighting the war. President Roosevelt meets with two high-ranking officers, Mrs. Roosevelt, and Mary MacLeod Bethune to discuss it.
The general explains that delivery of supplies has been prioritized over mail. As a consequence, millions of letters and packages have piled up in hangars in Britain. Clearing the backlog has become a logistical nightmare that several units have been unable to resolve, including a white WAC unit. Bethune maintains, however, that the black Women's Army Corps unit can do it, so Captain Adams' unit is finally given orders.
The battalion crosses the stormy North Atlantic in the ocean liner Île de France without naval escort. When they arrive in Glasgow, they face the racist commanding officer General Halt. He forces them to march through the city immediately upon landing to the disused, rat-infested, unheated boarding school which is to become their base. The newly-promoted Major Adams and Captain Campbell are given six months to turn the school into a post office and barracks, and to clear a two-year backlog of undelivered mail. The deadline is intended to ensure their failure.
Once the battalion has toiled to create liveable quarters, a pristine mess hall, and a well-organized mail sorting hall, the work can begin. One day, Lena loses her composure upon seeing nonchalant handling of dog tags found in damaged letters. She breaks down to her friends and reveals her connection to Abram and how she never received any letters from him, which makes her know first-hand how important their job is. Her friends promise to watch for any letter addressed to her; and Major Adams tells Lena that her story has also made her realize the importance of their work.
Along with a notification that their first two months of sorted mail was undeliverable, the battalion is asked to host black soldiers at a dance to boost morale. Lena sees Hugh there, whom she had met previously at the 6888th's training base in Georgia. They start to dance, but she soon leaves upon hearing a song she associates with Abram. They decide to be friends.
When it is discovered by white officers that an occasional letter is opened, the battalion's members point out various difficulties and challenges they face. These include multiple cases of identical names; multiple locator cards for soldiers as their units move; rats damaging the contents of packages and their addresses; and mold from care packages from home destroying addresses.
After President Roosevelt's death, a white chaplain assigned as a spy by General Halt delivers a sermon that denigrates Adams' qualifications and morals. After finding his extremely negative report on her, she literally sends him packing.
The same day that a letter from Abram to Lena is found, two women of the 6888th die from an unexploded bomb en route to the school. After their burial at Brookwood Cemetery, Lena visits Abram's grave, where she reads his letter. In it, he tells her to live a long life and she finally gets closure.
Lieutenant General Halt—who, based on his extensive service ribbons, appears to have served in the Army since the Spanish-American War, including the Philippine Campaign, the Mexican Border during the Pancho Villa conflict, World War I, and prior to America’s entry into World War II, though notably without decorations for military merit or combat valor—visits the battalion and delivers a harsh critique. During his visit, the WACs are working around the clock, and the night shift is asleep. He is not permitted to enter the showers to avoid intruding on anyone who might be bathing. After inspecting the mail-sorting area, Halt declares Major Adams incompetent and announces his intent to replace her with a white male officer. Major Adams responds, “Over my dead body,” and confronts him directly, making it clear she will not step down. The soldiers who witness the exchange remain at attention until she returns to release them for duty, at which point they give her a rousing ovation.
As General Halt is trying to push Major Adams' court martial through, he hears cheers from his unit as their mail finally arrives. The 6888th successfully straightened out the two-year backlog of 17 million pieces of mail in just 90 days, despite the challenges of the mission. They were later sent to Rouen, France, to clear a similar backlog. After the war, Lena married Hugh, living a long life with him.
The women of the 6888th were not especially appreciated when they returned to US soil. Decades later, Michelle Obama oversees a ceremony honoring the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. Also, US Army Base Fort Lee was renamed Fort Gregg-Adams, partially in Adams' honor.
It was announced in December 2022 that Tyler Perry would be writing and directing the film Six Triple Eight for Netflix. The film is based on historian Kevin M. Hymel's article, "Fighting a Two-Front War", published in the February 2019 issue of WWII History magazine. In January 2023, the cast, including Kerry Washington, Sam Waterston, Susan Sarandon and Oprah Winfrey was announced, with Washington also joining as an executive producer.
Filming began on January 17, 2023, in Atlanta. Production also occurred in Little Germany, Bradford and at Imperial War Museum Duxford in February. Filming took place in Cedartown, Georgia on March 28, 2023.
The Six Triple Eight has a budget of $70 million, making it Perry's largest scale and most expensive production to date.
The Six Triple Eight (Soundtrack from the Netflix Film) was released digitally on December 6, 2024, through Netflix Music. The album consisted of the film score composed by Aaron Zigman, in his eleventh collaboration with Perry, and jointly produced by Zigman, Perry and music supervisor Joel C. High. The film also features an end credits song titled "The Journey", written by Diane Warren and performed by H.E.R., and was nominated in the category of Best Original Song at the 97th Academy Awards.
In February 2024, The Six Triple Eight was reported to be part of Netflix's 2024 release calendar, with a specific date yet to be announced. In August 2024, Netflix announced that the film, now titled The Six Triple Eight, would be released in a limited theatrical release on December 6, 2024, with a streaming release two weeks later on December 20 on Netflix.
The Six Triple Eight amassed 52.4 million views over its first four weeks on Netflix becoming Tyler Perry's most watched film on the service to date. The historical drama has also boosted viewership for Perry’s four other Netflix films such as Mea Culpa, 2022’s A Jazzman's Blues, A Madea Homecoming, and 2020’s A Fall from Grace by more than 45% since The Six Triple Eight began streaming on Dec. 20. Plus, the film reached the Top 10 in more than 85 countries, the most of any film he’s made for the streamer.
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 56% of 54 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.4/10. The website's consensus reads: "The Six Triple Eight recounts an important true story with a steely Kerry Washington at command, but its treacly presentation unfortunately doesn't let these inspiring events speak for themselves." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 51 out of 100, based on 14 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.
Film critic Peter Debruge from Variety gave it a positive review, writing: "The Six Triple Eight gives Perry his best and most substantial feature to date (only 2010's ensemble melodrama For Colored Girls comes close)... The film boasts a large enough cast to launch a dozen or so careers, and yet, one performance stands head and shoulders above the others: That would be Washington's forceful turn as Adams, who holds her own against arrogant white officers." Frank Scheck from The Hollywood Reporter also gave it a positive review, praising Obsidian and Washington's performances. Jesse Hassenger from The Guardian gave it 2/5 stars, writing: "Kerry Washington hams it up in the writer-director's stodgy ode to a battalion of women in the second world war who deserve far better".