Sometimes, it’s enough to walk out of a film with your heart warmed - even if your brain’s still craving a little something more. Queen of Katwe shows that a film doesn’t have to give up on the tenets of genre, but has the potential to win big if it can enliven them in new ways. Still, stick around for the genuinely lovely end credits, which feature Phiona and others palling around with the actors who played them. Disney, in allowing a strong director to do things her way and break the typical formula, creates a story that still inspires but actually becomes a strong character-driven film, capable of standing shoulder to shoulder with some of the better films released this year. This being a Disney film, it’s understandable, but the blandified result often feels more like a by-the-numbers fairy tale than the triumphant true story it is. Queen of Katwe is another type of film altogether. Her sister, Night (Taryn Kyaze), disappears periodically with a man who may or may not be a pimp her father’s absence is never really explained (in real life, he died of AIDS). Still, “Queen of Katwe” glides a little too smoothly over the rougher edges of Phiona’s life in the slums of Kampala, Uganda’s capital city. A Ugandan girl’s life changes forever when she discovers she has an amazing talent for chess, in this celebration of the human spirit.
To see the scrappy band of chess students in Phiona’s Katwe neighborhood trouncing the competition at fancy schools is undeniably satisfying, and Nair has assembled a captivating team of non-actor kids to play them. Disney presents Queen of Katwe, a movie based on a vibrant true story starring Lupita Nyong’o and David Oyelowo, and directed by Mira Nair. Phiona’s mother is forever pushing back against the idea that she needs a man to save her from desperate poverty, even as the family suffers through hunger, homelessness and floods. Later, she observes that soon she’ll begin to be pursued by men, as her less fortunate sister has been: “Where is my safe square, coach?” she demands. Predictable game metaphors abound here, but in the context of Phiona’s life, they do resonate: “In chess,” she’s told, “the small one can become the big one.” Her eyes light up. She shines brightly under the direction of Mira Nair (“Monsoon Wedding”), who brings Phiona’s story to life with her trademark jewel-hued palette, an all-black cast and two powerhouse supporting actors: David Oyelowo (“Selma”) as Phiona’s coach and Lupita Nyong’o (“12 Years a Slave”) as her hardworking mother, Nakku Harriet. Phiona is played by newcomer Madina Nalwanga, a Ugandan herself. A young girl from Uganda trains to become a world chess champion. The true story of Phiona Mutesi is inspiring enough that it doesn’t really need a Disney filter: Raised in a Ugandan slum, she began playing chess through a sports outreach program at the age of 9 and rose through local competitions to take one trophy after another, including at least one boys-only title.