Oscar-and-Emmy-winning actress-turned-director Regina King (If Beale Street Could Talk, Watchmen) is determined to tell powerful stories that haven’t been heard - like this fictionalized meeting of Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X, NFL star James Brown and singer Sam Cooke in 1964, after Cassius Clay (Eli Goree) defeats heavyweight champion Sonny Liston. Instead of the traditional celebratory party, Clay returns to his Motel room, joined by Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben-Adir), Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge) and Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom Jr.). Urged by his spiritual mentor Malcolm X, 22-year-old Cassius Clay has decided to convert to Islam, changing his name to Muhammad Ali. But now Malcolm X is secretly determined to leave Elijah Muhammad’s Nation of Islam to form his own organization. While Jim Brown can still play football, he opts for a future movie career and Sam Cooke is re-evaluating his pop repertoire to include more gospel-soul. They’re all ‘celebrities,’ yet they hold differing views as to how to use their status to affect change in the segregated South, acknowledging: “Economic freedom is the freedom that matters most.” No one knows if they spent that evening together. But Malcolm X’s impassioned - “We’re fighting for our lives! Our people are literally dying in the streets every day” - reverberate with relevance. Adapted by Kemp Powers, it’s top-quality filmed theater, marking Regina King’s auspicious directorial debut. If she scores an Oscar nomination, she’d be the sixth woman and only Black woman in that directing category in 92 years. King hopes it’s “a piece of art that moves the needle towards real transformative change,” noting that it references “conversations that are happening right now.” Recommended.