Watch ‘Queen Sugar’

Ava DuVernay is the gift that keeps on giving. The first black female director to be nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award for her prowess on ‘Selma’ (2014) and currently leading the charge on the highly anticipated ‘A Wrinkle in Time’ (2018), DuVernay is also the filmic brains behind the Oprah Winfrey Network’s hit drama series ‘Queen Sugar’.

Based on the novel of the same name by Natalie Baszile, ‘Queen Sugar’ finds the Bordelon siblings estranged and dealing with their respective drama.

Ralph Angel (Kofi Siriboe), the soft one recently released from prison, tries to comply with the terms of his parole and raise his son in a world not easy on ex-felons.

Nova (Rutina Wesley), the healer, is an investigative journalist juggling a relationship with a married white cop while pursuing a story on the racist prison industrial complex.

And Charley (Dawn-Lyen Gardner), the LA powerhouse, is doing damage control in the wake of her professional basketball player husband’s sexual indiscretions.

All living disparate lives, what brings them together is a sugar cane farm. Their childhood home in the heart of Louisiana left to them by their father who’d hoped they’d tend to it together.

The latest in a parade of successful series featuring black ensembles – think ‘Empire’, ‘Power’, ‘Insecure’, ‘Black-ish’ and ‘Atlanta’ – ‘Queen Sugar’ plays a little soap operatic as the Bordelons struggle to keep their sugar cane farm from the clutches of a nefarious local.

With the first season directed entirely by women, featuring two strong female leads and a delectable Siriboe, ‘Queen Sugar’ is certainly a triumph for the sisters.

Watchable, engrossing if not somewhat a bit slow to move along, the drama series benefits from its attention to direction which bathes some of its outdoor scenes in a particularly stirring light.

More in the struggle to move black led film and television into the mainstream, ‘Queen Sugar’ has its flaws but certainly deserves an audience appreciative of a little melodrama and plenty of heart.

In an age of information overload, Sunrise is The Namibian’s morning briefing, delivered at 6h00 from Monday to Friday. It offers a curated rundown of the most important stories from the past 24 hours – occasionally with a light, witty touch. It’s an essential way to stay informed. Subscribe and join our newsletter community.

The Namibian uses AI tools to assist with improved quality, accuracy and efficiency, while maintaining editorial oversight and journalistic integrity.