Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- lacerating
- melancholic
- oppressive
- historical drama night
- music film night
What critics said
Critics broadly found Andra Day's raw, mesmerizing performance compelling, while judging the biographical drama episodic, stylistically inconsistent, and historically unreliable.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The film dramatizes Billie Holiday's final decade while taking liberties with the historical record and emphasizing her conflict with federal authorities.
Holiday's performances of “Strange Fruit” become acts of resistance against censorship and racial terror.
The Federal Department of Narcotics targets Holiday through an undercover operation led by Jimmy Fletcher.
Concert sequences and jazz-club settings place the viewer inside Holiday's 1940s and 1950s career world.
Films like The United States vs. Billie Holiday, and why
Ray
music biopic centered on a groundbreaking Black singer confronting addiction, exploitation, and institutional racism
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
stylized biographical drama about a legendary musician whose art is inseparable from personal trauma and racial injustice
Straight Outta Compton
intense historical music drama focused on Black artistic expression, censorship, and oppressive power structures
Judy
raw, emotionally charged portrait of a female performer battling addiction, exploitation, and a hostile public sphere
Movie Details
- Director
- Lee Daniels
- Release Date
- 2021-03-31
- Runtime
- 131 min
- Rating
- 6.5 / 10 (323)
Cast
- Andra Day
- Trevante Rhodes
- Garrett Hedlund
- Leslie Jordan
- Miss Lawrence
- Adriane Lenox
- Natasha Lyonne
- Rob Morgan
- Da'Vine Joy Randolph
- Evan Ross
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Hulu
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The United States vs. Billie Holiday about?
- A fiercely gifted jazz singer wages a personal and political battle against addiction, censorship, and a government determined to silence her.
- What is The United States vs. Billie Holiday like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The United States vs. Billie Holiday as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is The United States vs. Billie Holiday violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in The United States vs. Billie Holiday as mild.
- What did critics think of The United States vs. Billie Holiday?
- Critics broadly found Andra Day's raw, mesmerizing performance compelling, while judging the biographical drama episodic, stylistically inconsistent, and historically unreliable.
- Which films are like The United States vs. Billie Holiday?
- Films with a similar feel include Ray, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Straight Outta Compton, and Judy.
- How long is The United States vs. Billie Holiday?
- The United States vs. Billie Holiday runs 131 minutes.
- Where can I watch The United States vs. Billie Holiday?
- In United States, The United States vs. Billie Holiday streams on Hulu.
