Rediscover the Legendary Amy Winehouse in Back to Black—Plus Enjoy These Five Films About Awe-Inspiring Figures

Back to Black, directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson from a screenplay by Matt Greenhalgh, explores the life and world of singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse (Marisa Abela) while creating the namesake album. From the influence of her father (Eddie Marsan) and grandmother (Lesley Manville) to her intense relationship with Blake Fielder-Civil (Jack O’Connell), the film follows Amy’s complex road to success through her own eyes and experiences. Variety writes, “The forthright and compelling movie…takes that light/dark balance and digs into the drama of it, making it sing.”

And after seeing Back to Black in theaters, add these other films that explore the extraordinary lives of real people to your watch list.

Back to Black is playing in theaters, so get your tickets now!

The Zookeeper’s Wife

Adapted from Diane Ackerman’s nonfiction bestseller, Niki Caro’s The Zookeeper’s Wife chronicles the heroic life of Antonina Żabińska (Jessica Chastain), a woman who worked with her husband (Johan Heldenbergh) to save the lives of hundreds of Jewish people fleeing Nazi persecution by hiding them in an abandoned zoo in Warsaw. Chastain told Yahoo! News that she was drawn to tell this true story in order “to do whatever I can to celebrate those women in history and to inspire young girls.” Buried for years, Antonina’s story provides modern audiences with a moving lesson. “Both a lush historical tale and a real-life fable, The Zookeeper’s Wife…makes a strong case for a simple truth: inhuman brutality can only be counteracted by steady compassion and kindness,” Vox writes.

Watch The Zookeeper’s Wife on Apple TV or Amazon!

Mary Queen of Scots

In Josie Rourke’s Mary Queen of Scots, two remarkable women—Elizabeth I (Margot Robbie) and Mary, Queen of Scots (Saoirse Ronan)—recreate an essential historical moment. Fighting for the stability of their realms—and against the conniving of their male peers—Elizabeth and Mary find themselves on a collision course with destiny. Rourke told Collider, “I wanted to take these women seriously as politicians and think about their leadership and the cost of power.” Indeed, Entertainment Weekly named it one of the 15 best movies about British royalty. The Wrap writes, “Bow down to Ronan and Robbie for taking two legendarily complex characters, who have been reborn countless times in film and television, and completely owning both roles.”

Watch Mary Queen of Scots on Apple TV or Amazon!

On the Basis of Sex

In Mimi Leder’s On the Basis of Sex, a young Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Felicity Jones) stumbles onto an obscure tax case that could change the future of gender discrimination law. The San Francisco Chronicle writes, “Here’s the story of a woman who not only shaped the journey of women in the second half of the 20th century but whose life embodied that journey.” As the then-shy Ginsburg finds her voice in the courtroom, she also discovers her future as a champion of justice. “She took that feeling of injustice and that annoyance and harnessed that anger into something very, very positive,” Jones told She Knows. “It’s not only engrossing legal drama, but a historic look at how one woman helped explode the myth that female subservience is part of the natural order,” writes Rolling Stone.

Watch On the Basis of Sex on Apple TV or Amazon!

Darkest Hour

Joe Wright’s Darkest Hour recounts how Winston Churchill (Gary Oldmam in an Academy Award®-winning performance) brought hope and purpose to a nation teetering on the brink of disaster. With its army trapped down in the French port of Dunkirk, Britain feared they were just days away from a Nazi invasion. Barely elected to the position of Prime Minister, Churchill faced the impossible combination of a fractured government and a frightened public. Wright tells The Atlantic that the story is “about a man who is placed in this impossible position where no one wants him, and who suffers a massive crisis of confidence and doubt. And through doubt, he discovers wisdom.” The film is “a portrait of leadership at its most brilliant, thoughtful and morally courageous,” writes The Washington Post.

Watch Darkest Hour on Apple TV or Amazon!

Talk to Me

In Kasi Lemmons’ Talk to Me, Don Cheadle plays Petey Greene, an ex-con-turned-radio personality who entertained Washington DC’s metro area with his shock-jock antics for over two decades. In 1968, however, Greene changed from class clown to local hero when he comforted a population on the verge of an uproar. “In the aftermath of Martin Luther King's assassination, Petey took to the air and, in a marathon broadcast, helped calm the city,” writes Time Magazine. Talk to Me “perfectly captures the vibe of a person, a place, a time, and a way of being, and even gets, indirectly and without a whiff of sanctimoniousness, to the heart of what being an American ought to mean," writes Salon.

Watch Talk to Me on Apple TV or Amazon!