"Women of the Movement"

I was hesitant to watch this limited series because the previews made it look dour and preachy.  It wasn't.  The producers cleverly allowed this to be a story of people, humans, individuals.  It is the story of a mother and her son.  Adrienne Warren, as Mamie Till-Mobley, is entrancing.  You can't look away from her.  Her determination, her pain, they play across her face like an impressionist painting.  It's a rainbow of shimmering emotions.  Glynn Turman as Mose Wright, the uncle who takes Emmett to Alabama, is also a portrait of grief.  The directors, notably all women, allow the characters to linger in close-ups.  We see the minds of these people as they move through complicated and impossible issues.  Perhaps the most striking scene in the entire series is when Emmett's body is back in Chicago.  Ms. Warren, as Mamie, holds his foot, his hand, touching him and remembering him only the way a mother can.  It tears at your heart almost more than his gruesome murder does.  First and foremost this is a story about a child who was killed rather than the movement his murder inspired.  It's not 100% historically accurate.  The facts about Emmett's murder are unassailable but the surrounding timelines, the inclusion of adults in his family and friends are sometimes manufactured or manipulated.  In the last episode historical footage is included presumably to give weight to the narrative.  It's not necessary.  This is one of those times that the actors carry the story brilliantly, and it is enough.