Four icons, one hell of a night.

Of course, cinema is many things to many people, however, as a link to the past it is vital. There are certainly plenty of mediums out there that can help us connect with history, yet few wield the power to capture and conjure the past quite like the movies.

Film can resurrect those moments we’ve read about, heard about, and seen in a million news stories, inviting us to contemplate, celebrate, and commemorate like we’re right there. Obviously, history is an enormous thing, with an infinite number of tales to tell, yet while revisiting iconic moments of the past is all well and good, cinema is at its best when recalling the stories between stories, those unseen moments that have fallen through history’s cracks.

We may never truly know what happened in these cracks, but it’s these in-between moments where history and imagination meet that cinema comes alive. And it’s right there in that historical space that One Night in Miami thrives.

On the night of the 25th of February 1964, as a young, brash Cassius Clay (Eli Goree) emerges from the Miami Beach Convention Centre the new Heavyweight Champion of the World, he joins his friends Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben-Adir), Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom Jr.), and Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge) at the run-down Hampton House Motel for an evening of low-key celebration. As this historic evening unfolds, these three legends – each a unique representation of the Pre-Black Power Movement – trade verbal blows as they ruminate on one another’s responsibilities and their collective need to stand up, defend their rights, and move the country forward for all Black people.

While there’s no doubt One Night in Miami takes a huge pinch of dramatic license with a conversation where the specifics are largely unknown, the film is very much rooted in truth. Like an assembling of the Civil Rights Avengers, the coming together of Muhammed Ali, Malcolm X, Sam Cooke, and Jim Brown on that night in 1964 very much took place; and while the specifics may be sketchy, it’s in this juggling of fact and fiction, against the backdrop of a pivotal point in American history, where One Night in Miami sings.

In many ways, the finer points of their conversation matter little. Regardless of the details, the four icons’ words, as imagined by writer Kemp Powers, are nevertheless a potent cocktail that strike a poignant chord for each individual and for Black America at large. Imagining the post-fight celebration as a meeting of four great minds and their varied approach to civil rights activism, the film throws up a fascinating clash of ideologies and personalities that combine to drive the narrative until the very end.

Essentially an all-star team of Black excellence, this gathering of some of the most iconic African Americans of their generation is as electric and as enthralling as it promises. Although the setting is restrictive and the narrative unsurprisingly confined by this, the natural drama and the raucous exchanges that emanate from the quartet’s varying personalities injects more than enough action and suspense to make up for the restrictions.

The film certainly tinkers with the timeline and perhaps imbues more significance to this one night than it actually had, however, the film and the writing do a fantastic job of ensuring this dramatic license is far less of a hinderance than it could’ve been. As a piece, One Night in Miami delivers where it matters, and despite its factual fudging, it’s nonetheless powerful and inspiring to see each of the four friends emerge from the night’s discourse with a renewed sense of purpose, regardless of where their paths would eventually take them.

Kemp Power’s script may play fast and loose with history, but its broader points regarding the men’s unique place in society and their contrasting examples of Black empowerment very much ring true. The film certainly had its work cut out for it moulding a captivating and coherent narrative from what is an unknown conversation while simultaneously honouring the legacy of these icons, yet One Night in Miami does a sensational job of evoking the image of these figures as it constructs something all of its own from it.

Gripping, pertinent, and, most importantly, believable, Powers’ script – adapted from his own stage play – buzzes with electricity, allowing each of the film’s four players to say their piece, hitting just the right spot between dramatization and the history it talks to. While this kind of chamber piece filmmaking always runs the risk of bogging itself down in conceited soapboxing, Powers’ words land all the right blows, as they crackle with a level of energy befitting the historical star power on display.

Oh, and it always helps when you have a collection of actors at your disposal that not only hold a physical resemblance to their iconic historical figures but are able to embody their personality so effectively. Without ever falling into caricature, all four of Kingsley Ben-Adir, Eli Goree, Aldis Hodge, and Leslie Odom Jr. back up their surface-level resemblances with skill, energy, and a remarkable ability to evoke their respective legend from the inside out.

With an admirably even focus across all four stars, there’s no real stand out here and it would feel wholly unfair to pick one. Instead, what we get is a quartet of fine performances from a collection of talents right at the beginning of their career ascents, and while there’s an ever-so-slight edge in screen time for Ben-Adir’s Malcom X, this is far from being his film, as it’s the chemistry of all four men together that makes One Night in Miami hum.

Although there’s no doubt One Night in Miami is a film elevated by the magnetic performance of its stars, it’s far from a film that leans entirely on them. Behind the camera and behind her cast every step of the way, Regina King comes out swinging in her directorial debut, as she shows an astonishingly adept filmmaking hand, turning what could’ve been a claustrophobic chamber piece into something truly cinematic and altogether more substantial.

Classy but never overindulgent, King’s direction makes the most of the film’s limited location, refusing to allow the spatial restrictions to overwhelm the narrative as she grants the four stars the time and space necessary to succeed. For a film that spends a good chunk of its running time in the confines of a pokey Miami motel room, One Night in Miami never once suffers because of it, as King’s keen visual eye and assured feel for both space and pace make for a truly enthralling watch.

It’s never an easy task to construct a biopic that’s both satisfying and enthralling, so to tell four separate mini autobiographical narratives and have them interweave over the course of one night in such an assured manor is mightily impressive, making for one of the finest directorial debuts in recent memory. Many a biopic faulters in its attempt to tell too much story in too short a time, however, with One Night in Miami, Regina King and Kemp Power eschew this to tell a fascinatingly intimate but no less monumental almost-true story.

As a snapshot of a significant point in the history for both its four icons and the simmering country around them, One Night in Miami pulls no punches in its confrontation of each man’s personal and public issues. By not only purposefully and deliberately intersecting the burning matter of civil rights with each individual’s life, but to also hold up a spotlight to the benefits and pratfalls of their wildly divergent approaches, the film asks tough questions without ever pretending to offer easy answers.

Framed by absorbing performances from its four stars and elevated by the thoughtful and assured direction of Regina King, One Night in Miami is a poignant, pertinent, and pulsating slice of unseen history. Bringing both Kemp Powers’ words and a pivotal moment for Black America to life, One Night in Miami delivers a knockout blow that breaks out of its stagey confines to offer an evocative, potent reflection on race, fame, its larger-than-life icons, and their unique place within history.

One Night in Miami is available to stream on Amazon Prime now.