The blatant sports-movie clichés aside, this is a genuinely moving film with winning performances.

Queen Of Katwe, a film about an underdeveloped Uganda as much as it is about a chess prodigy, is a visually thrilling riot, a hyper-detailed sensory overload that heaps on texture so thickly you’d be forgiven for imagining you’ve smelt the spice and tasted the porridge.

Queen of Katwe’s power lies far from the distant, ascetic tournament halls that Phiona finds herself in. It lies in the streets, drains, sludge, tattered windows, door-less, roof-less houses that she inhabits when away from that world.

Queen of Katwe is a real movie, with real people, real drama and a real sense of place. It’s aided by a soundtrack filled with local flavour, and despite being a Disney film, it isn’t afraid to shy away from the harsher truths of slum life. When it hits, it hits hard. But there’s humour in the unlikeliest of places, there’s a spirit that just refuses to die. No matter what, that chin stays up. On a side note, do not miss the end credits.

Queen of Katwe is your quintessential triumph-of-the-underdog story – predictable, yet inspiring. It may unfold slowly just like a game of chess but stimulates your heart and mind, nonetheless.

This film remains so remarkably restrained throughout, drawing hardly any attention at all to the big moments — through the background score (which is laidback, slightly calypso), or creating a sense of occasion (most scenes are tonally the same) — that by the end of it, you genuinely wonder if this was a sports movie in the first place.

This  is  a film that wears its heart proudly on its sleeve. Shot in glorious splashy colours and rustling up an African soundtrack that makes our hearts twirl and gambol, it sweeps you in its inspirational universe with  such earnest intentions , you wouldn’t want to say no to even its most manipulative moments when poverty almost becomes a pivotal character in the plot challenging the protagonists for a combat to the finish.

A real, touching and humble story, Queen of Katwe is a ray of light. If inspiring biopics are your choice of films, this one will not disappoint you and definitely is a must-watch.

…the film, rich in cultural texture is skilfully and sensitively handled.

Queen of Katwe stands on its own feet because of its distinct raw rhythm and energy and for rooting itself well in the underprivileged world of Uganda.

With excellent production values executed by production designer Stephanie Carroll along with Mobolaji Dawodu’s striking costumes, the visuals captured by cinematographer Sean Bobbitt’s lens are appealing. And so is Alex Heffes’s lavish score which tugs at your heartstrings and compliments the visuals.
Overall, the film, rich in cultural texture is skilfully and sensitively handled.