The United States vs. Billie Holiday
Paramount Pictures | Release Date (Streaming): February 26, 2021 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
52
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 43 Critic Reviews
Positive:
16
Mixed:
22
Negative:
5
Watch Now
Stream On

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperFeb 26, 2021
Andra Day looks and sounds like every inch the movie star in the performance numbers and when Billie enjoys rare moments of peace and happiness offstage — and she is equally, heartbreakingly believable as Billie’s appearance deteriorates and her soul is crushed by years of drug abuse, and a lifetime of being physically and emotionally battered by a series of men who looked at this amazing, glorious, singular star and saw little more than a cash register. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsFeb 25, 2021
The movie — certainly Daniels’s best since “Precious” — is as turbulent and zigzaggy as Holiday’s life no doubt felt like to the woman who lived it. If this risky movie hits some bum notes, Andra Day cannot be found anywhere in the vicinity. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattFeb 24, 2021
Daniels has a way of molding the chaotic murk of history into something neat and shiny — whether it be the roots of Holiday's addiction or the decidedly 2021 cut of Rhodes' rippling torso. Read full review
70
TimeStephanie ZacharekFeb 26, 2021
The United States vs. Billie Holiday may be at times unfocused, but it’s never boring. And as always, Daniels rounds up the finest performers and gives them great characters to dig into. Read full review
70
ABC NewsPeter TraversFeb 26, 2021
Singer Andra Day’s breakout star performance as jazz legend Billie Holiday raises this chaotic film above its faults by showing how Holiday used her voice as a starting gun for the civil-rights movement despite a relentless FBI campaign to destroy her. Read full review
70
Screen DailyFionnuala HalliganFeb 24, 2021
Structured to an unusual beat and often stuck in its own feedback loop, The United States…is a flawed film, much like its protagonist, but Day doesn’t set a foot wrong throughout, even as Daniels’ adoring camera traces her every breath in full close-up. Read full review
70
VarietyOwen GleibermanFeb 19, 2021
This is gripping stuff, to be sure, yet the movie, volatile as it is, lacks a full dramatic center and the momentum that would flow out of it. Read full review
67
The Film StageGlenn Heath Jr.Feb 25, 2021
What the film does have is Andra Day, whose blisteringly raw central performance as the heroin-addicted musician brings a dynamic charge to nearly every scene. Read full review
65
PolygonRoxana HadadiFeb 26, 2021
Billie Holiday’s skills as a talented singer, vibrant performer, and intuitive improviser never come first. All the qualities that made her singular play second fiddle to her many relationships with awful men. Read full review
65
TheWrapAlonso DuraldeFeb 19, 2021
The United States vs. Billie Holiday never completely works as a drama, but it does ultimately succeed in two important ways: The film provides a launchpad for Andra Day’s exceptional acting talents as well as her gifts as a singer, and enriches the public understanding of Holiday’s persecution, funded by taxpayer dollars, for daring to speak truth to power through her art. Read full review
63
ObserverOliver JonesFeb 25, 2021
You feel the late genius through the way Day carries her body, so lissome yet creaking with the weight of both her talent and addiction. The Rise Up singer not only matches our imagination’s version of Holiday, but somehow beats it: she seems so present yet ethereally sozzled in a manner that suggests she may be operating on another plane. Read full review
63
The Associated PressMark KennedyFeb 25, 2021
In the frustrating The United States vs. Billie Holiday, Day gives it her all as Holiday but she can’t save a film that is overstuffed and also thin. Director Lee Daniels and screenwriter Suzan-Lori Parks offer an unfocused, meandering work for much of the time, interrupted by devastating scenes that feel like a punch to the gut. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy BurrFeb 24, 2021
The director is Lee Daniels, of Precious (2009) and The Butler (2013), here evoking the historical era and its figures with verve and intelligence but unable to find a dramatic center other than his electrifying star. Read full review
63
USA TodayBrian TruittFeb 19, 2021
Even with its imperfections, “Billie Holiday” tells a needed story and along the way introduces a bright new Hollywood star to watch. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineDan RubinsFeb 19, 2021
The film finds its purpose most pointedly when it zeroes in on the unambiguous relationship between Holiday and “Strange Fruit.” Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreFeb 19, 2021
It’s a bio-pic that keeps its brilliant, sultry, complicated subject at arm’s length. Read full review
More From This Movie

52 Critic Reviews

5.2 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 77 Project Hail Mary
2 76 Hokum
3 74 Disclosure Day
4 73 Toy Story 5
5 73 Hoppers
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL