MISS VIRGINIA is based on the true story of Virginia Walden Ford, a struggling single mother, played by Uzo Aduba (Orange Is the New Black).

Set in 2003, we catch up with Virginia struggling to raise her 15-year-old son James (Niles Fitch) in a low-income Washington, D.C., neighborhood. Nile gives a soulfulness portrayal of James similar to his character on Randall on NBC’s This Is Us. Continue on to read the MISS VIRGINIA movie review…

CelebNMovies247.com critic P. Ricci has this take on Vertical Entertainment’s Miss Virginia giving the film a grade B for its effort in storytelling and showing that no matter what the odds are all you need to do is push back to persevere.

Miss Virginia tackles the controversial issue of private school vouchers. Virginia Walden (Aduba), is a struggling single mother who is determined to get her son enrolled in the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program which provides scholarships to low-income children for private schools. In the film Virginia tries to get support from wealthy congressman Cliff Williams (Matthew Modine) but she learns quickly he is only there for his own personal gain. After Virginia starts to make noise a talk show host (Vanessa Williams) uses her platform to sandbag Miss Walden Ford and her son’s efforts and determination.

Is This Movie Good?

The Emmy-winning Aduba does a good job of playing a mother who’s full of conviction, love for her community, and unflagging energy to advocate for better education in inner-city communities. Her son played by Niles Fitch is believable in his role, and he has a natural innocence that resonates on-screen. However, many of the scenes in the film are a bit predictable. The film is directed by R. J. Daniel Hanna. Overall many of the scenes in the film redundant, yet moments, where the film needed to focus, were overlooked or stifled.

The film is still a feel-good movie since it displays many positive themes in Miss Virginia, such as; courage to stand up against your oppressor, freedom of speech, unity, a community coming together, black power and the will to overcome the system.

We liked most about Miss Virginia is that the film did a great job of showing the resource disparity between private schools and public schools in disenfranchised communities that lack support. Watch the trailer here…

MISS VIRGINIA Production Details:

Production company: Moving Picture Institute
Distributor: Vertical Entertainment
Cast: Uzo Aduba, Matthew Modine, Aunjanue Ellis, Niles Fitch, Nadji Jeter, Vanessa Williams, Michael Beasley
Director: R.J. Daniel Hanna
Screenwriter: Erin O’Connor
Producers: Maurice Black, M. Elizabeth Hughes, Erin O’Connor, Stacey Parks, Rob Pfaltzgraff
Executive producers: Virginia Walden Ford, Nick Reid
Director of photography: Nancy Schreiber
Production designer: Grace Alie
Editors: Sally Bergom, Brian Scofield
Composer: Laura Karpman
Costume designer: Romy Itzigsohn
Casting: Aisha Coley
102 minutes