Queen of Katwe

Directed by Mira Nair (Monsoon Wedding), this inspiring drama manages to both capture the hardship of living in a Ugandan slum and work as a feel-good Disney movie. Nalwanga is subtle and powerful as Phiona, a girl who's just learning what's possible -- and also realizing how difficult it will be to rise above her circumstances. It's a movie about chess, but it's also about struggle, and the messages it's trying to send aren't subtle: You can do anything if you try and have love and support. But Queen of Katwe isn't just Phiona's story, and that's party of why it's so good. Her widowed mother, Harriet (Nyong'o), struggles to keep the family fed and sheltered while also keeping her dignity. And Oyelowo is lovely as the coach trying to keep the chess team going -- fighting to get funding and opportunities -- while at the same time feeling a responsibility to provide for his own family.

Families will have so much to talk about after watching this film. It doesn't "Disney-fy" the hardships of being poor in Uganda. There's a terrifying scene in which a boy is run over by a motorcycle and another when a toddler is almost swept away by a flood after rain drenches his roofless shelter. That kind of stuff makes the movie a bit too intense for younger elementary schoolers, but tweens and up should definitely see it. It's a hopeful glimpse into someone else's world that they might not know about. Phiona is a real person, and at the end of movie you get to see the people the actors portrayed and what's become of them since the end of the story -- an extra dash of inspiration.