The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (film)

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Based on	The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Screenplay by	Peter Landesman Alexander Woo George C. Wolfe
Directed by	George C. Wolfe
Starring	Oprah Winfrey Rose Byrne Renée Elise Goldsberry Courtney B. Vance Reg E. Cathey Ruben Santiago-Hudson Leslie Uggams
Composer	Branford Marsalis
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Executive producers	Alan Ball Carla Gardini Peter Macdissi Lydia Dean Pilcher Oprah Winfrey
Producer	Kathryn Dean
Cinematography	Sofian El Fani
Editor	Aaron Yanes
Running time	1 hour and 32 minutes
Production companies	Your Face Goes Here Entertainment Harpo Films Cine Mosaic
Original release
Network	HBO
Release	April 22, 2017 (2017-04-22)

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is a drama television film directed by George C. Wolfe and starring Oprah Winfrey and Rose Byrne. It is based on the book of the same name by Rebecca Skloot and documents the story of Henrietta Lacks, who was diagnosed with cervical cancer in the 1950s, and whose cancer cells (later known as HeLa) would change the course of cancer treatment.

The film premiered on HBO on April 22, 2017.^[1]

In January 1951, Henrietta Lacks suffered complications while giving birth. A biopsy taken in February confirmed that she had cervical cancer. Lacks died in October, having never been told that cells from her tumor were being used for research; not sharing this information was common practice in the United States at the time.^[2] Cell biologist George Otto Gey found that the cells could be kept alive,^[3] and developed into what is – as of 2024 – the oldest immortalised cell line and one of the most commonly used in medical (not just cancer) research; previously, cells cultured from other human cells would survive for only a few days, but cells from Lacks' tumor behaved differently.^[4][5]

The film was announced on May 2, 2016, with Alan Ball and Oprah Winfrey as executive producers. George C. Wolfe would direct the film, with Winfrey taking the role of Lacks' daughter Deborah.^[6] In July, Rose Byrne was cast as Rebecca Skloot, the author of the book about Henrietta, who befriends Deborah while reporting on her mother's life,^[7] and Renée Elise Goldsberry was cast as the titular Henrietta Lacks.^[8] The core supporting cast was rounded out in August 2016, with Courtney B. Vance, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Reg E. Cathey and Leslie Uggams amongst them.^[9] After several weeks of shooting in Atlanta, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks began filming in Baltimore in September 2016.^[10][11] Two of Henrietta Lacks's sons, Zakariyya and Sonny, were consultants on the film.^[12]

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks received mixed to positive reviews from critics, with Winfrey's performance gaining high praise. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes gave the film an approval rating of 69%, based on 35 reviews, with an average rating of 6.5/10.^[13] On Metacritic the film has a score of 64 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[14]

• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks at IMDb