Lost a little under the radar this awards season is Kasi Lemmons’ “Harriet.” Based on the life of legendary Harriet Tubman, a former slave who made over 13 trips to bring 70 people to freedom, the Focus Features release opens wide on Friday after debuting at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival. Lemmons first movie since 2013’s “Black Nativity,” the historical drama has a more than solid 63 on Metacritic so far and a 64% on Rotten Tomatoes. That’s arguably higher than contender such as “Joker” and “Jojo Rabbit.” The film is also, notably, the first leading role for Tony and Grammy Award winner Cynthia Erivo.
WATCH: The new trailer for “Harriet” starring Cynthia Erivo
The London native got Hollywood’s attention last year following impressive turns in both Steve McQueen’s “Widows” and Drew Goddard’s “Bad Time at the El Royale.” Her impressive performance has earned Oscar buzz in the Best Actress category, a field that likely only has two nomination locks, “Judy’s” Renee Zellwegger and “Bombshell’s” Charlize Theron. Unbeknownst to many, Erivio’s best shot at an inaugural Oscar nomination may come from “Stand Up,” the original song she co-wrote for “Harriet” with Joshuah Brian Campbell. Erivio performed the track for members of the press on Tuesday afternoon and you can watch a good portion of the performance as well as her cover of “A Natural Woman” in the twitter video embedded in this post.
.@CynthiaEriVo blowing the roof off the Four Seasons singing Stand Up from @FocusFeatures #HarrietMovie pic.twitter.com/6omPbADeVd
— Gregory Ellwood – The Playlist ???? (@TheGregoryE) October 29, 2019
The Original Song category will be almost as competitive as Best Actress with new songs from “Frozen” and “Cats” to consider as well as “Toy Story 4,” “The Lion King,” “Rocketman,” “Her Smell,” “Wild Rose,” “Aladdin” and “Charlie’s Angels.”
“Harriet,” which also stars Janelle Monae, Leslie Odom, Jr., Jennifer Nettles and Joe Alwyn, opens nationwide on Friday.