From her haunting vocals to her raspy cadence, Golden Globe winner Andra Day is wholly absorbed as the title character of “The United States vs. Billie Holiday.” Her visceral performance is the anchor through which Pulitzer award winner Suzan-Lori Parks and filmmaker Lee Daniels’ drama comes to life. The 1940s-set film reshapes Holiday’s legacy as the Godmother of the Civil Rights Movement, centering her activism through her seminal song “Strange Fruit.” It also showcases Federal Bureau of Narcotics Commissioner Harry J. Anslinger’s (played in the film by Garrett Hedlund) obsession with dehumanizing and silencing Holiday, and how he weaponized her drug addiction against her.
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