sergelamarche A Disney film that is close to perfection. More satisfying if it matches reality. This is really well done, with real chess moves to make you think, the slum is realistic although maybe too nice to be true, but maybe true, great acting and an incredible beauty for Phiona and her mom, and many others. The acting included the local language, adding another layer of veracity. Great rags to riches story, ideal for Disney. My only bemol: it ends at the riches. Somewhat anticlimactic.

the_doofy Hi folks, as some of U know, Disney is notorious for taking an event, and drastically changing and bending what actually occurred, often to the point of making a movie that really has little to do with the event or story they claim to be representing --The actual background for this movie is as followsFIDE awarded Phiona a women's IM title. Their requirements are that a woman must have had a peak rating of at least 2000 elo and scored at least 50% in a qualifying tourney. Apparently they bent the rules a lot to grant Phiona a WIM (women International master) title. Her peak rating was about 1650 elo (350 below the requirement) and she scored only one win (against a 1542 player), three draws and lost three games in the 2012 Olympiad--So this is basically a fiction movie =Its affirmative action in the world of FIDE, I'm sure there are a LOT of chess players fuming over this, I know of at least one young woman who tried to get an WIM in the USA and peaked at around 1950, and was not awarded the title --guess she is in the wrong country --One very good chess movie starring minorities that really is true is called 'Brooklyn Castle', --A very good fiction chess movie is 'Queen to Play', about as true as this movie is when you get right down to it

Nicole C An inspiring story of a slum girl who, with coaching, is able to bring out the chess genius in her. Given the opportunity, talents can arise in anyone. The depiction of slums in this film didn't leave much to the imagination. It showed very harsh living conditions and was very realistic. The cast mainly consists of youth, and though their inexperience does show, their portrayals are well done. For her first film, Nalwanga does a good job at displaying tenacity and innocence. Her expressions are natural and she has good chemistry with the other actors and actresses. As a biographical movie, the kids in this film added a sort of purity that helped the movie have a sense of reality. Nyong'o as the mother, and Oyelowo as the coach, also did well at displaying passionate emotions.Location and scene settings help to anchor the story and create the small town feel. The atmosphere that the cinematography brought out was one that was very natural, with slow pans and long shots. Not only does this film tell an inspiring story, it gives a cultural education, shedding some light on slum life in Uganda. The customs of the culture and the way the people express themselves are a great fun to watch. As well, the screenplay did a good job in incorporating the difficulties of a small town girl competing in the big world, as well as displaying cultural sensitivities. Although some scenes are just slow in developing, and some issues seem to be repetitive, this film is overall, is a great portrayal of an inspiring story.

PeterPan158 I was hesitant to see the movie, although I marked it for my 2016 must watch list some time ago. There were things that discouraged me to prioritize this movie before all the other I have seen from 2016 so far - like its Disney poster, its genre of "from the bottom to the top" (always a danger to fall into clichés), and lack of exposure and reviews.I am glad I finally watched it today, as it successfully managed to avoid clichés and 2D story-line so often seen in this genre and clichés of over-romanticizing of poverty and Africa in general. I think that the main reason this movie didn't succeed much in USA or Europe on commercial merit is that people didn't really get through those clichés yet. That, and perhaps the African accent that to some western ears may sound "too stupid and slow", so people often correlate that with intelligence of people who speak it.For me, it was refreshing to see finally a good movie set out in Africa and even more so, I applaud the director's decision to shoot it in actual Katwe. It added up on the scale of authenticity and I bet it helped to facilitate actors performance as well- which is also on very high level. I especially liked Lupita Nyong'o's portrayal of the mother of Phiona - the main hero of the story. But surprisingly all child actors are really good too, even though most of them (I heard) never stood before camera (or maybe exactly because of that).As I mentioned the story is classical "from the bottom to the top" genre, but what sets this movie apart from its stereotype genre is willingness to explore characters depth, and not only that of the protagonist (Phiona), but movie managed also to depict other characters with depth and I'd say there are three protagonists in this movie: Phiona (chess prodigy), her mother, and her coach Robert Katende. Story explores their limitations and strength, with nuance, character and intelligence. There are some beautiful scenes where characters above realize their own limitations and as they try to find the way to support each other's strength despite their embarrassment. So mainly this emotional intelligence and nuance set the movie apart from clichés of its genre.Also there are many subtle references to class prejudices in Uganda (which, I think, people from every country can relate to). So bonus point for that too. We saw not just poor slums of Uganda - the dirt, poverty and tacit acceptance of it, we also saw middle class Uganda and upper rich class of Western-like style of Uganda. It was all too familiar to watch the power relations withing Uganda, although with different colour and context.All in all, a story that deserved to be told. I thought it's impossible to make a movie about chess, but this movie kind of made me thinking about learning it! And all in all, a movie that deserves to be watched and acknowledged.I definitely liked it a lot and even managed to shed a tear here and there! I also liked the final credits where you could see the actors standing besides the real people they portrayed in the movie.