By John Corrado

★★★ (out of 4)

The 2023 Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 7th to 17th, more information on tickets and showtimes can be found right here.

The latest film from director George C. Wolfe (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom), Rustin is a solid Netflix biopic of gay civil right’s leader Bayard Rustin, that sheds important light on this integral but lesser known figure behind the famous March on Washington in 1963.

Bayard Rustin (played by an excellent Colman Domingo) is presented in the film as a firebrand, who is nonetheless somewhat of a contentious figure within the movement, partially due to him being openly homosexual. While a natural ally and close friend of of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (Aml Ameen), Rustin is at odds with both establishment figure Roy Wilkins (Chris Rock) of the NAACP as well as the more militant factions, who view his belief in using pacifistic non-violence to bring about social change as not going far enough to meet the moment.

The film unfolds mostly during the planning stages for the march (where Dr. King would deliver his famous “I Have a Dream” speech), as Rustin works with a team of activists to meet the inherent challenges of bringing a hundred thousand people to the nation’s capital for a peaceful protest. The screenplay, co-written by Julian Breece and Dustin Lance Black (Oscar-winner for Milk), charts the logistics behind organizing this event over the months and weeks leading up to it, including raising money and working with local law enforcement.

While the March on Washington itself feels slightly cut short at the end with Wolfe’s somewhat limited re-staging of it, this is still an entertaining, well-paced film that gives us basically what we want at 106 minutes. Andrew Mondshein’s editing keeps the film moving between scenes, as does the jazz score by Branford Marsalis. But the main attraction is Domingo, who carries the film with his fiery, compelling performance as a man who is tired of apologizing for being Black and gay, inspired by figures like Ghandi, Thoreau and Jesus Christ to peacefully fight for change.

Rustin is a figure who had his contributions to the Civil Rights movement somewhat cut out of history, before being posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama a decade ago (Barack and Michelle Obama actually produced this film through their Higher Ground Productions banner, marking their first narrative feature), and Rustin serves as a good, inspiring introduction.

Public Screenings: Tuesday, September 12th, 3:30 PM at Princess of Wales; Wednesday, September 13th, 11:15 AM at TIFF Bell Lightbox; Friday, September 15th, 5:30 PM at TIFF Bell Lightbox; Saturday, September 16th, 10:15 PM at TIFF Bell Lightbox; Sunday, September 17th, 12:30 PM at TIFF Bell Lightbox