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There is a lot of mystery around Harriet Tubman. The one thing everyone knows is that she was a slave and helped other enslaved people escape. The sad part is that's where it ends.

Harriet the movie helps fill in some of the mystery surrounding this American Heroine. Director Kasi Lemmons (Eve's Bayou) introduces Harriet to us as a young woman. She's newly married, and her husband attempts to gain her freedom. Times being what they were, her owner didn't want to assist the young couple. This event set the tone for Harriet's life as well as this movie.

It's daunting trying to understand what she faced to attain her freedom — the miles and miles of terrain she had to navigate. Lemmons does a good job showing just how challenging the journey was for her.

The anchor in this tale is the brilliant tony award-winning Cynthia Ervio. Despite the chatter, this role was tailor-made for her. She embodies not only Harriet physically but spiritually. We are rooting for Harriet; hence were rooting for Cynthia.

Janelle Monae, as Marie is stunning. Monae reminds us that she is as dominant on the screen as she is on stage. Leslie Odom Jr., with his ties to Philadelphia, is steady as William Still. Rounding out this band of artistry are veterans Vondie Curtis-Hall, Clare Peters, Vanessa Bell Calloway, and Omar J. Dorsey. Newcomer Zackary Momoh is endearing as John Tubman; however, the surprise of this movie is none other than Henry Hunter Hall (Kasi and Vondie's Son). Lemmons lit him beautifully, and he soaks up the screen. His entrance as Walter is absolute movie magic.

Monae, Hall, and Odom represent Harriet's future Alwyn, and Nettles represents her past.

Joe Alwyn is Gideon Brodess, and Jennifer Nettles is Eliza Brodess Harriet's owner.

Both play despicable characters. One determined to will Harriet into submission the other blaming Harriet for her bad fortune. Nettles, who is an absolute delight in person, was horrifyingly scary as Eliza. As she would put it, "She's simply awful."

My only issue with Harriet is that I wish they would have given this movie more time. Lemmons' was gifted with such a talented cast, and at times the story felt rushed. I wanted to know more about Harriet Tubman. How was her life in Philadelphia? How did she adjust to seeing free educated black people? In this new norm of 2 or dare I say 3-hour movies I wanted Kasi to push the story more so that when we left the theater, we had a complete understanding of who this Heroine was. Such is the challenge when we are hungry for information about our ancestors. She does, however, give us a push to learn more. What we're left with is an understanding that Harriet Tubman was much more complicated than that little paragraph given in History Class. Hopefully, this film will expand the vocabulary around her life because, like so many of our heroes, she was more than just a slave.

Scale: I give this film a 7.5 for the great cast however I wanted more context to Harriet Tubman.