The Good Lord Bird

2020 Directed by Albert Hughes, Kevin Hooks …

All of this is true. Most of it happened.

Enslaved teenager Henry Shackleford, aka Little Onion, becomes a member in abolitionist John Brown’s motley family during the Bleeding Kansas era before the Civil War.

Ethan Hawke Joshua Caleb Johnson Daveed Diggs Steve Zahn David Morse Wyatt Russell Ellar Coltrane Orlando Jones Hubert Point-Du Jour Adam Shapiro Jack Alcott

Alternative Title

Птичка Господа милосердного

drama western

350 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by benhack 🦦 ★★★★ 3

The Good Lord Bird don't run in a flock. He Flies alone. You know why? He's searching.
with Ethan hawkes pragmatic depiction of the ambiguous abolitionist John brown being with nominal fidelity to the real man himself, theres honestly not much more I need to say about the quality of this show.
7 episodes of great character chemistry, pragmatic performances and a testament to the racist virtues that burdens America delineated in such a hyperbolic but tender nonchalance, resonating a perpetuating idea that our culture is incrementally changed from decades past.
the greatest merit of this show should be heralded as Joshua caleb Johnson.
our fictional perspective of this chronicle.
An altruistic young African American boy, known as Little Onion,…
Review by grace💫 2

ethan hawke SNAPPED with this one! this is the funniest shit i have ever seen. and only bringing on Black and/or female directors? we love to see it. i’m only on the first episode but i knew from the opening credits alone this was gonna be my speed. the boy of boyhood also in this?!?! guess being ethan hawke’s son is his brand. just give me more daveed and rafael next episode u cowards!!!!
Review by Aaron Murray ★★★★★

Yeah this was fucking great. A great mix of comedy and harrowing drama that somehow manages to completely work. Ethan Hawke gives an absolutely incredible performance but more credit absolutely needs to be given to Joshua Caleb Johnson as Onion. A fantastic young talent who is without a doubt destined to have a long and good career. Everyone in this nails their roles but Hawke & Johnson absolutely own this.
The Good Lord Bird isn't being talked about enough and it's a shame. It's a fantastic mini series that I can't recommend enough. It's funny, well written and in its 7 episodes, doesn't undermine the subject matter it tackles. A story like this can go either way but here it absolutely works.
Review by kevinyang ★★★ 1

This is just what happens when Reverend Toller really lets himself go
Review by katie 🐞 ★★★★½

What's a better Xmas present than getting to watch Ethan Hawke be a crazy, badass abolitionist for approx. 5 hrs?
Answer: Absolutely none!
also, a little Daveed Diggs playing Frederick Douglass as a treat.
Review by claire ★★★★★ 2

Can’t recommend this enough. Spike Lee meets Quintin Tarantino with superb acting. Ethan Hawke gives such an incredible performance and fully embraces his role as John Brown. I appreciated how the differing perspectives regarding Browns morality and sanity were presented, especially the debates and doubts within the abolitionist community.
Review by Sam 🎞🏴‍☠️ ★★★★

„He’s nuttier than a squirrels turd.“
Superb neo-western; amazing characters, throughout brilliant performances (especially Hawke, what a talent 😲 ) and an intriguing and multilayered story.
Absolutely recommended! ☝️
Review by Peter Dennis ★★★½

My main man really went for that Emmy
Review by A.M 3

Probably one of the best shows of recent years
Not only is it a great story, but it had one of the greatest initiatives I've seen in production (for those who don't know they brought on POC and female filmmakers to direct all the episodes)
So many break out performances, so many great new actors to look out for, and perhaps even a career-best from Ethan Hawke as someone whom I didn't even know existed, but is genuinely among the most interesting characters I've ever had the pleasure of learning about.
Do yourself a favour and check it out. ESPECIALLY if you're a fan of revisionist westerns and/or Spike Lee!!
p.s I'm going to shamelessly share an underrated tweet of mine to the people who watch this because it's a good tweet and I demand it gets more attention 😤😤 twitter.com/Bseesa_/status/1324364191503929345?s=20
Review by 🐱Andrew Chrzanowski🐱 ★★★ 2

☆"No man fails or can ever fail who so grandly gives himself to a righteous cause."☆
Alternatively wildly entertaining and confoundingly frustrating, this messy but thrilling series makes a ton of mistakes but man oh man can Ethan Hawke act circles around everyone else on screen.
As a big history buff this was exciting to see portrayed in any kind of medium, and while a limited series provided the depth necessary to explore John Brown's final years and raid of Harpers Ferry, I'm not sure that James McBride's titular novel was quite the way to do it.
His historical fiction work laced with dark comedy -- each episode begins with the words "all of this is true, some of it…
Review by kinomozg ★★★★½

Крутой эклектичный и энергичный минисериал про времена до гражданской войны, когда чтобы сражаться за права рабов, нужно было быть безумным фанатиком. Не знал, что мне настолько нужен был в жизни АБСОЛЮТНЫЙ ЗВЕРЮГА-ИТАН ХОУК, но очень рад, что он есть.
Review by Wilfred Lucas ★★★★½

The Good Lord Bird deconstructs the white savior legacy of famed abolitionist, John Brown, in a wildly humorous, genre-defying, and gender role-bending miniseries that showcases Ethan Hawke in his aggressive, standout performance. Hawke is tremendous when he is yelling at the break of battle like a self-hailed hero and pompously claiming the podium when he is public speaking. But when Brown is stripped down to his insecurities, faulty approach, and overreliance on divine intervention, Hawke absorbs all the layers of his complicated character. Despite all his excessive faith on triumph, Brown is among those who ignited the flame towards freedom from slavery.
Another interesting lens the miniseries used is Little Onion's, a young teenage boy wearing dresses and pretending to…

Recent reviews

Review by remarkable ★★★★

The Good Lord Bird does a great job of depicting John Brown’s fervent, righteous madness. He’s a soldier for Jesus, to be sure. Ethan Hawke’s long-winded, murderous, and bellowing depiction is a sight to behold.
But the miniseries’ greatest strength is in its depiction of all that surrounds Brown and his band of freedom fighters. In telling the tale through the eyes of a foundling slave the Brown army adopts under the assumption that he (Henry) is a young girl (Henrietta), they dub “her” Little Onion and she becomes Brown’s good luck charm.
From this vantage, Little Onion bears witness to all manner of antebellum abolition efforts: bloody murder of slavery sympathizers, slave hangings, local uprisings, and orations by some…
Review by Sahilspst ★★★½

Ethan Hawke’s going for it, i mean he’s really going for it all
Review by Officer K ★★★★

It's an understatement to say Ethan Hawke chews the scenery in The Good Lord Bird. No, he goes far beyond that.
He chews the bark off the trees...
And he chews away the chains from the edges of the screen...
However, he does NOT...chew the onion.
What a bizarrely brilliant performance.
Review by EwanOfTheDead ★★★★½

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

Since this a limited tv with only 7 episodes. I thought I’d review this one episode at a time.
(This is a long review since it was done episodically)
Episode 1 - This episode was a good introduction to our protagonist, John Brown, played amazingly by Ethan Hawke and his fight to free slaves. We also follow our other protagonist, Little Onion. This episode had a good story but was mainly showing us Browns disliking to those to enslaved black people and how he wants to free them. Since this a true story, we know how this turns out and the writers know this by announcing that Brown will be hung after his efforts. Solid first episode 3.5/5
Episode 2…
Review by Slasher McGurk ★★★★★

Osawatomie John H. Brown makes me simultaneously ashamed and proud of being a white man.
Review by kate ★★★★

episode 1
give ethan hawke all the awards!!!!! also the opening credits??? wow
Review by Juicieca ★★★★★

Ethan Hawke and Joshua Caleb Johnson are unbelievable in this series. Honestly all of the acting is amazing, it's really well done. Its emotional and entertaining.
Review by John ★★★½

Some of the music sounds like the Jesse James score and some of the photographic flourishes are straight out of that film but this is pulp history all the way.
Elevated and held together by an uncharacteristically bombastic yet lovable Ethan Hawke performance that justifies the entire project’s existence.
Daveed Diggs as Morgan Freeman as Frederick Douglass is a hoot.
Review by Charles Case ★★★★ 1

Very entertaining while also sad as hell. I’m sure it’s not without problems, but I enjoyed it! Ethan Hawke 10/10 for real.
Review by Wayne Wilentz ★★★★½

This is an amazing achievement. I was into it from the first scene to the last. Funny, horrifying, original and so very, very sad.
Usually I whine at length about anachronistic language and actions, but for some reason I absolutely can’t explain, this time it didn’t bug me for a second.
I love how all the Black people know that Onion is a boy in girl’s clothes, but no White people figure it out. This so perfectly demonstrates the dehumanization of a people by their enslavers. The whites look at Onion as property, not a person.
Review by Farhan_NRahman ★★★½

The voice of our spirit is gentle. Sometimes you have to fly alone to hear it.
Review by Peaky Blinder ★★★★

The Good Lord Bird ofrece una visión refrescante de un tema que se había presentando de una forma melodramática y hasta un poco cursi cómo en películas tales cómo 12 Years a Slave. No sólo por su ágil ritmo y su tono ligeramente informal, sino porque dota a su relato de matices grices, cuestiona a los abolicionistas que están más interesados en buscar un conflicto armado en vez de la verdadera libertad de los esclavos. Y Ethan Hawke está que se sale. Sumamente recomendable.

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