SummaryAlex Wheatle follows the true story of award-winning writer, Alex Wheatle (Sheyi Cole), from a young boy through his early adult years. Having spent his childhood in a mostly white institutional care home with no love or family, he finally finds not only a sense of community for the first time in Brixton, but his identity and ability to grow his ... Read More
Directed By:Steve McQueen
Written By:Alastair Siddons, Steve McQueen, Rebecca Lenkiewicz
Small Axe: Alex Wheatle
Metascore
Generally Favorable
77
User score
Generally Favorable
6.2
My Score
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Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
77
89% Positive
17 Reviews
17 Reviews
11% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Dec 6, 2020
100
Remarkably, this is Cole's first time in front of the camera. He approaches Alex’s emotional journey as a teenager with a sure touch, switching effortlessly between innocence and a gradual hardening.
Dec 10, 2020
88
Reggae music is a through line in almost all five installments of Steve McQueen’s Small Axe anthology, but in Alex Wheatle, it’s a lifeline.
Dec 17, 2020
80
While it’s more sprawling than the other entries, Alex Wheatle is Small Axe’s strongest character piece, Wheatle’s coming-of-age and process of ‘unlearning’ the dogma of England’s white upper classes told with powerful emotivity and clarity.
Nov 29, 2020
80
At just a fraction over an hour, the film doesn't match the narrative scope of Mangrove or Red, White and Blue. Nor does it have the enveloping intimacy of Lovers Rock, the only Small Axe entry not based on a true story. But its understated celebration of resilience and hope makes the compelling snapshot very much in keeping with the deeply personal nature of this project for McQueen.
Nov 29, 2020
75
It’s not episodic, but feels more like the first act of a larger story begging for further exploration. Nevertheless, with a complex, ever-evolving turn by newcomer Sheyi Cole at its center, the story it does offer up turns on McQueen’s usual sophisticated narrative techniques and the same striking penchant to render Black British culture in complex lyrical terms.
Dec 9, 2020
70
Alex Wheatle plays like a conventional coming-of-age story, of sorts, but the film is a fitting addition to Small Axe, rounding out a picture of young manhood and serving up powerful images of isolation and courage.
Nov 30, 2020
58
Alex Wheatle combines the relevant themes that guide the prior “Small Axe” installments: music as an escape from one’s environment, police brutality, and a character adrift from his community — yet the writing struggles to connect the major plot points for big picture interpretations of Alex’s cultural self-education.
User score
Generally Favorable
6.2
47% Positive
9 Ratings
9 Ratings
42% Mixed
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
11% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
May 8, 2021
6
What's surprising about this entry in the anthology is that Steve McQueen seems to limit himself, narrative speaking. Maybe I can't argue that this real-life character's story deserved a great biopic, but even so, his story is still very interesting, and the fact that McQueen limits it to about 60 minutes makes it feel rushed and not so detailed. So far I think this is the weakest part of the whole thing.
Production Company:
- BBC Film
- British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
- Turbine Studios
- Lammas Park
- EMU Films
- BBC Studios Distribution
- Six Temple Productions
Release Date:Dec 11, 2020
Duration:1 h 6 m
Rating:TV-MA
