Alice Walker’s seminal story of African-American hardship and resilience becomes a broad and bright musical from director Blitz Bazawule (The Burial Of Kojo, Beyoncé’s visual album Black Is King). An incredible cast assemble for this second screen adaptation, following Steven Spielberg’s more sombre 1985 take, with Oprah Winfrey, Quincy Jones and Spielberg himself among the producers. 

The story unfolds in the American South over a period of about 40 years, starting in 1909. Singer Fantasia Barrino is our heroine Celie (Phylicia Pearl Mpasi plays her as a teen), who endures cruelty at the hands of her older, live-in-lover Mister (the ever-excellent Colman Domingo) after being separated from her beloved sister Nettie (The Little Mermaid’s Halle Bailey). Taraji P Henson’s jazz singer Shug is the object of Celie’s affections, while Danielle Brooks from Orange Is The New Black is formidable and moving as the unapologetic Sofia, with Ciara, HER, Jon Batiste, and more, lending their support. 

There are some charismatic performances here, from Domingo, Brooks and Henson in particular. Leading lady Barrino is subtle and credible, even if she isn’t always well-served by the script. The staging of the musical numbers impresses and they’re enacted with swagger and verve, yet the substance and much of the poignancy has been lost from the story, which is hastened through. If the characterisation and relationships feel undercooked, things do become more engaging as the film wears on. Swinging fairly wildly between sweet and upbeat and brutal, The Color Purple is, at the very least, a persuasive tribute to the escapist power of song. 

The Color Purple is in cinemas from Friday 26 January.