The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks: Season 1

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Generally favorable reviews based on 22 Critic Reviews

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Mixed or average reviews based on 14 Ratings

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5.1	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 14 Ratings

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Season Details & Credits

HBO | Season Premiere Date: April 22, 2017

Summary: The TV movie focuses on Henrietta's daughter Deborah (Oprah Winfrey) as she seeks to learn more about her mother (Renée Elise Goldsberry) and how her cancerous cells became a part of medical breakthroughs with the help of journalist Rebecca Skloot (Rose Byrne) in this adaptation of Skloot's book of the same name.

Genre(s): Drama, Movie/Mini-Series

Season 1 Episodes

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

Verne Gay

Apr 19, 2017

A beautiful, moving film, and Oprah (as usual) brings it. Read full review

TV Guide Magazine Matt Roush

Apr 17, 2017

There is traumatic yet necessary catharsis along the way as Henrietta (a luminous Renee Elise Goldsberry) comes into focus, finally getting the respect and thanks she deserves. [17-30 Apr 2017, p.19]

David Wiegand

Apr 20, 2017

It's an emotionally powerful film that does justice to Henrietta, her legacy and her family. Read full review

Caitlin PenzeyMoog

Apr 21, 2017

The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks is too sentimental for its own good. It’s not really fair to compare a film to its original source material--books and movies are different mediums with different strengths--but it’s hard not to rue what’s lost in this version, which skimps over both the science and the relationships that form the heart of Skloot’s book. At least Winfrey’s performance brings Deb to boisterous, believable life. Read full review

Lenika Cruz

Apr 24, 2017

Winfrey’s performance as Deborah gives The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks its one bit of genuine brilliance. ... Beyond Winfrey, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks has the markings of a standard TV movie, though there’s a clear mismatch between form and content. Read full review

Rob Owen

Apr 21, 2017

It’s a role that could fall into caricature, but Ms. Winfrey brings vulnerability and believability to the part. Henrietta Lacks also benefits from a strong supporting cast. ... The film, directed by George C. Wolfe (“Lackawanna Blues”), stumbles most profoundly in the way it wraps up. The conclusion to the 90-minute film comes too quickly with an abrupt shift in tone. Read full review

Keith Uhlich

Apr 17, 2017

With the exception of Renée Elise Goldsberry--who gives a half-saintly, half-corporeal dignity to Henrietta herself in a few brief flashback scenes--director and cowriter George C. Wolfe, a terrific theater artist, seems to have instructed Winfrey, Byrne and the rest of the cast to play to some nonexistent rafters. And this only pays off twice. Read full review

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User Reviews

TheShrike222

Apr 25, 2017

Well done. I bumped this movie up two points right off because the story of Henrietta, the Lacks family and the HeLa cells is so amazing that it grabs your attention and won't let go. Like Hidden Figures, this covers an extremely crucial piece of scientific history that has been neglectedWell done. I bumped this movie up two points right off because the story of Henrietta, the Lacks family and the HeLa cells is so amazing that it grabs your attention and won't let go. Like Hidden Figures, this covers an extremely crucial piece of scientific history that has been neglected for far too long.
The style of direction, a little unpolished or raw, works for the material though some of the dialog was hard to follow. All the acting was competent, I recognized several of my favorite go-to character actors in there, and they presented the characters well.
The biggest problem with the movie is that it is a book to movie adaptation. These are notoriously difficult because you can't fit a book in 90 minutes of film. I could see the gaps where the director skipped portions of the book that went into greater detail, and those moments detracted from the rest of the movie. I think the director did a good job representing the sections that ended up being dramatized, but I definitely need to go out and read the book to find out the rest of the story.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

Cinemaphile

Apr 24, 2017

Powerful ....................................................................................................................................................................

0 of 3 users found this helpful03

LeZee

Feb 4, 2018

You will know everything, but Henrietta Lacks!

It's a good biographical drama, but the only problem is its not what exactly the title says. If you believed to learn about Henrietta Lacks and went to see it, you might end disappointingly. Because she was the only topic of the story, notYou will know everything, but Henrietta Lacks!

It's a good biographical drama, but the only problem is its not what exactly the title says. If you believed to learn about Henrietta Lacks and went to see it, you might end disappointingly. Because she was the only topic of the story, not the actual story, except a few glimpses. It is like you watched 'Infamous' or 'Capote', instead of 'In Cold Blood'. That's what like this film. Yet not a bad film.

A writer pursuing the family members of a person who lived in the mid 20th century, because she was a medical phenomenon. Her cells used to treat cancer, despite she had died of cancer, leaving her young kids behind. Her descendants not aware of how things work in the medical research, only misguided by others, finally, set to discover the truth themselves about all the fuss.

It was nominated for the Emmy, but did not win. Oprah was okay, but Rose Byrne impressed me. Except a misleading title, it is a good film, but I really wanted/want to know the Henrietta Lacks. That's funny, because they have told us an unnecessary story. I hope somebody would make a film about actual Henrietta Lacks!

5.5/10… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Seasons & Episodes

64

Series Overview
Season 1

64
- Season 1 Overview
  Air Date: April 22, 2017
- No episode information is currently available for this season