Review | Film review: Hidden Figures – powerful tribute to three black women who helped Nasa in ’60s

Hidden Figures reveals the trials and tribulations of three black women who were instrumental in America’s space race in the pre-computer 1960s

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(From left) Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monae in a still from Hidden Figures (category IIA), directed by Theodore Melfi.

Published: 4:30pm, 31 Jan 2017Updated: 4:30pm, 31 Jan 2017

4/5 stars

Hidden Figures approaches the issue of America’s racial segregation with a gentle touch, and is all the better for it. By skillfully avoiding polemical statements and scenes of high drama, as it follows three black women dealing with daily difficulties , the film sends a powerful message about the evils of racism.

The fact that the story takes place in the 1960s, when the US was trailing Russia in the space race, adds extra interest to an already engaging tale. The three “hidden figures” at the centre of this true story, based on a 56-page book proposal by Margot Lee Shetterly, are mathematical geniuses who worked at NASA, doing the maths for rocket launches in the pre-computer age.

Kevin Costner plays Katherine Johnson’s boss in Hidden Figures.

Katherine G. Johnson (Taraji P. Henson) worked out the equations that plotted the trajectories of spacecraft; Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) managed the “coloured computers” team and became the first black supervisor at Nasa; and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monae) was an aerospace engineer. Although the trio’s work was recognised by Nasa, their achievements are not generally known by the public.