Ma Rainey's Black Bottom Scores Rare 100% Positive Rating on Rotten Tomatoes

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, the upcoming Netflix film starring Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman in his final film role has scored a rare 100 percent positive rating on review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes. At the time of this article's writing the film, which debuts on Netflix on December 18th, has 44 total critical reviews but they are all in agreement in their praise of the film as well as its performances from both Viola Davis and Boseman, whose performance is specifically singled out as potentially being the best of his entire career.

Based on the play of the same name by Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom tells the story of "Mother of Blues" Gertrude "Ma" Rainey (played by Davis in the film) and centers on a fateful recording session for her album "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom". The film also stars Colman Domingo, Glynn Turman, Michael Potts, Taylour Paige, and Dusan Brown. The film is directed by George C. Wolfe and adapted for the screen by Ruben Santiago-Hudson and produced by Fences Oscar nominees Denzel Washington and Todd Black.

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom features the final film performance of Boseman who died in August at the age of 43 following a private, four-year battle with colon cancer. In the film Boseman plays Levee, an ambitious trumpeter with his own musical dreams as well as an eye for Ma's girlfriend. The performance has drawn a great deal of praise for Boseman and the film itself is already garnering awards buzz, with Netflix in particular planning to campaign Boseman in the Best Actor category for the 2021 Academy Awards.

You can check out the official synopsis for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom below.

"Tensions and temperatures rise over the course of an afternoon recording session in 1920s Chicago as a band of musicians await trailblazing performer, the legendary 'Mother of the Blues,' Ma Rainey (Academy Award winner Viola Davis). Late to the session, the fearless, fiery Ma engages in a battle of wills with her white manager and producer over control of her music. As the band waits in the studio's claustrophobic rehearsal room, ambitious trumpeter Levee (Chadwick Boseman) — who has an eye for Ma's girlfriend and is determined to stake his own claim on the music industry — spurs his fellow musicians into an eruption of stories revealing truths that will forever change the course of their lives."

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom is set to be released on December 18th, only on Netflix.