Shirley
Netflix | Release Date: March 15, 2024 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
57
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 20 Critic Reviews
Positive:
9
Mixed:
10
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
85
TheWrapRonda Racha PenriceMar 15, 2024
While “Shirley” is no “Rustin,” cinematically, Chisholm, like Bayard Rustin, more than deserves her flowers. Read full review
80
VarietyOwen GleibermanMar 16, 2024
In “Shirley,” John Ridley’s sharp and lively inside-political docudrama, Regina King plays Shirley Chisholm with a quiet force you can’t look away from. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperMar 15, 2024
Writer-director John Ridley and star Regina King get right to it in the Netflix original film “Shirley,” a no-frills, straightforward and inspirational biopic of the iconic and pioneering Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman elected to the United States Congress and the first Black candidate for a major party nomination for president. Read full review
70
Screen RantGrant HermannsMar 25, 2024
It's thanks to this cast that Shirley remains a rousing and emotional tribute to an important figure in American history. Read full review
70
ColliderTaylor GatesMar 22, 2024
Shirley is a relatively straightforward biopic, but it’s worth the watch to see Regina King’s beautiful performance that feels like an ode to the trailblazing woman. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyMar 15, 2024
It may be conventional but it’s never uninteresting, thanks to King and a strong ensemble in the key roles. And no one could argue with its value in bringing Chisholm’s achievements to the attention of younger generations perhaps unfamiliar with her legacy. Read full review
65
Paste MagazineAbby OlceseMar 18, 2024
As a character study, it repeatedly points out contradictions in Chisholm that it refuses to interrogate for fear it will come off as critical. The result is a hagiography with some obvious holes, something that a better film might try to balance. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsMar 29, 2024
At one point King, as Chisholm, resists the advisors’ pleas to simplify her “messaging” (was that word in circulation 52 years ago?) by saying: “I am not leaving out the nuance!” In “Shirley,” the top-shelf actors aren’t, either. Even if their material does. Read full review
63
Washington PostAnn HornadayMar 21, 2024
Regina King gives a lively, convincing portrayal of pioneering U.S. Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm in “Shirley,” an earnest, curiously listless biopic of a woman whose legacy suffuses modern life, even as it goes unacknowledged. Read full review
60
New York Magazine (Vulture)Nicholas QuahMar 25, 2024
To damn by faint praise: Shirley is a perfectly serviceable film. Read full review
60
CNNBrian LowryMar 22, 2024
The result is a sturdy but unspectacular film, one that honors Chisholm’s place in history while representing just one, too-concentrated facet of her giant shadow. Read full review
60
The GuardianAdrian HortonMar 21, 2024
Shirley gets the job done, though I wish it was more worthy of her complexity. Read full review
50
Movie NationRoger MooreMar 25, 2024
King handles the flashy moments — a big speech or two, a firm stand on principle or three. But there’s just not enough here, and too much at the same time, for “Shirley” to come off. Read full review
50
Rolling StoneDavid FearMar 22, 2024
The film may offer a Cliff Notes history lesson and a scrapbook take on a life, but it does make you wish Shirley was still around, talking truth to power right now and offering one more aspirational example for those who might step up and disrupt. Read full review
50
The New York TimesDevika GirishMar 21, 2024
King is magnetic onscreen, nailing Chisholm’s accent and her steely persona. But there is little for her to do other than trade quips with the other characters, in a drama that is too content with telling rather than showing. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeOdie HendersonMar 19, 2024
Despite an impressive pedigree in front of and behind the camera, “Shirley” fails to convey just how remarkable the career of Shirley Chisholm really was. The problem isn’t the narrow focus on one of her accomplishments, it’s the even narrower depiction of who she was as a person. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleMar 18, 2024
For whatever faults she had as a candidate, Chisholm earned her paragraph in the annals of our democracy, and “Shirley” does a conscientious job of fleshing out her story. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineJustin ClarkMar 15, 2024
In the end, this sub-Sorkin-esque political potboiler sidelines Chisholm's most meaningful community work to the fact that she tried and failed to run for president. Read full review
42
IndieWireKate ErblandMar 15, 2024
We never get the chance to see what inspired Chisholm’s political fire or her personal problems — mostly, that’s left to exposition-heavy dialogue from other characters — and even the machinations and calculations behind her presidential run are left far to the side. Read full review
38
RogerEbert.comPeyton RobinsonMar 22, 2024
Shirley views itself as a punchy, exciting political dossier, but lacks the attention to detail to make it anything other than a historical summary. Read full review
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