Cinafilm has over 5 million movie reviews and counting …

About Us
Contact Us
Sitemap
Follow us onCinafilm - Twitter Cinafilm - Pinterest

You're here:
Home
Movies
The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021)
Critic Reviews

Last updated: 10 Jun 2026 at 19:17 UTC

Back to movie details

The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021) - Critic Reviews - Page 2 of 3

21-40 of 43 Reviews

Sort by:

Review of The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021)

By Natalia Keogan (119) for Paste Magazine (2,906) on 25 Feb 2021

The overlong and tedious film opts for rudimentary Oscar-bait trappings and a crudely voyeuristic portrayal of the renowned jazz singer—a…

Review of The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021)

By Mick Lasalle (3,303) for San Francisco Chronicle (7,630) on 25 Feb 2021

So The United States vs. Billie Holiday is a misfire, and what a shame, because Andra Day had it in her to be great in this…

Review of The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021)

By Michael Phillips (2,622) for Chicago Tribune (6,211) on 25 Feb 2021

The movie — certainly Daniels’s best since “Precious” — is as turbulent and zigzaggy as Holiday’s life no doubt felt like to the…

Review of The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021)

By Glenn Heath Jr. (311) for The Film Stage (3,162) on 25 Feb 2021

What the film does have is Andra Day, whose blisteringly raw central performance as the heroin-addicted musician brings a dynamic charge to…

Review of The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021)

By Oliver Jones (215) for Observer (1,042) on 25 Feb 2021

You feel the late genius through the way Day carries her body, so lissome yet creaking with the weight of both her talent and addiction…

Review of The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021)

By Mark Kennedy (184) for The Associated Press (882) on 25 Feb 2021

In the frustrating The United States vs…

Review of The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021)

By Ty Burr (2,612) for Boston Globe (6,852) on 24 Feb 2021

The director is Lee Daniels, of Precious (2009) and The Butler (2013), here evoking the historical era and its figures with verve and intelligence…

Review of The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021)

By Mae Abdulbaki (411) for Screen Rant (892) on 24 Feb 2021

The film is overly long, dragging out its story unnecessarily, with Daniels haphazardly shifting focus away from Holiday constantly…

Review of The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021)

By Leah Greenblatt (734) for Entertainment Weekly (6,953) on 24 Feb 2021

Daniels has a way of molding the chaotic murk of history into something neat and shiny — whether it be the roots of Holiday's addiction or…

Review of The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021)

By Fionnuala Halligan (367) for Screen Daily (1,021) on 24 Feb 2021

Structured to an unusual beat and often stuck in its own feedback loop, The United States…is a flawed film, much like its protagonist, but…

Review of The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021)

By Ann Hornaday (1,919) for Washington Post (9,851) on 23 Feb 2021

It’s a fascinating story and well worth revisiting…

Review of The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021)

By Mike Scott (1,178) for New Orleans Times-Picayune (573) on 22 Feb 2021

The United States vs. Billie Holiday presents Holiday as a victim and little more…

Review of The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021)

By Owen Gleiberman (3,271) for Variety (12,700) on 19 Feb 2021

This is gripping stuff, to be sure, yet the movie, volatile as it is, lacks a full dramatic center and the momentum that would flow out of it…

Review of The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021)

By Alonso Duralde (1,351) for TheWrap (3,203) on 19 Feb 2021

The United States vs…

Review of The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021)

By Brian Truitt (541) for USA Today (4,117) on 19 Feb 2021

Even with its imperfections, “Billie Holiday” tells a needed story and along the way introduces a bright new Hollywood star to watch…

Review of The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021)

By Dan Rubins (25) for Slant Magazine (8,298) on 19 Feb 2021

The film finds its purpose most pointedly when it zeroes in on the unambiguous relationship between Holiday and “Strange Fruit.”…

Review of The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021)

By Roger Moore (6,008) for Movie Nation (3,875) on 19 Feb 2021

It’s a bio-pic that keeps its brilliant, sultry, complicated subject at arm’s length…

Review of The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021)

By Bill Goodykoontz (2,123) for Arizona Republic (3,909) on 19 Feb 2021

It’s mostly a biography of Holiday — nothing wrong with that, certainly when you’ve got a performance as stunning as Andra Day’s in…

Review of The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021)

By David Rooney (943) for The Hollywood Reporter (7,050) on 19 Feb 2021

Day mesmerizes even when Lee Daniels' unwieldy bio-drama careens all over the map with stylistic inconsistency and narrative dysfunction, settling…

Review of The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021)

By David Ehrlich (1,229) for IndieWire (3,631) on 19 Feb 2021

Much like “Precious” and the Daniels-produced “Monster’s Ball” before it, The United States vs…

1
2
3

Page 2 of 3

More reviews of this movie:

Leslie Jordan - Top 5 movies:

Garrett Hedlund - Top 5 movies:

Trevante Rhodes - Top 5 movies:

Movies you might like:

The Cincinnati Kid

1965

72%142 Reviews

1993

78%538 Reviews

Sweet Smell of Success

1957

84%341 Reviews

2015

78%156 Reviews

The Color Purple

1985

82%569 Reviews

Enemy at the Gates

2001

70%639 Reviews

2005

80%761 Reviews

Saving Private Ryan

1998

88%1,006 Reviews

2004

84%787 Reviews

1982

80%647 Reviews

2007

70%704 Reviews

1996

80%162 Reviews

Share This Page

Share

Tweet

Popular Movies Right Now

Top Gun: Maverick

2022

82%272 Reviews

2018

69%617 Reviews

2023

68%382 Reviews

2018

76%696 Reviews

2014

83%1,261 Reviews

War for the Planet of the Apes

2017

78%1,656 Reviews

2022

56%11 Reviews

2023

74%83 Reviews

2014

67%866 Reviews

2019

70%94 Reviews

Movies You Viewed Recently

The United States vs. Billie Holiday

2021

58%58 Reviews

1998

70%622 Reviews

1983

70%568 Reviews

2002

55%443 Reviews

2009

56%83 Reviews

2018

34%94 Reviews

The Other Side of the Bed

2002

59%69 Reviews

2008

47%462 Reviews

2002

74%79 Reviews

I Love You, Beth Cooper

2009

51%507 Reviews

Get social with CinafilmFollow us for reviews of the latest moviesCinafilm - Twitter Cinafilm - Pinterest Cinafilm - RSS

© 2026 Cinafilm Internet Productions

Prime Video logo is a trademark of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates

Our website support team can be reached by email at [email protected], or by phoning +44 3300 431 396

Cinafilm IP, Office 12693, PO Box 15113, Birmingham, West Midlands, B2 2NJ, United Kingdom