Movie Review for Film Critic / Rosie Challenge

 

I chose this film for the March 2026 Rosie Challenge as a movie that celebrates the resilience of women.

 

 

 

 

This movie is based on the true story of a unit of Black women who signed up to the Women's Army Corps during WWII as they take on a task nobody believes can be completed successfully. They face discrimination and disrespect daily for being both women AND people of colour in a still segregated America, despite fighting for a country that doesn't yet fully recognise them as citizen with equal rights.

 

Lead by the highly qualified Major Charity Adams we follow the recruit Lena Derriecott who signs up after graduating after losing her Beau who went to Europe as a pilot and died in combat. Her mother wants her to go to college but they don't have the funds to send her there and Lena is determined to enlist.

 

The unit of newly qualified recruits are given an assignment to handle the backlog of mail flowing into and out of the European theatre. This problem has been causing heartache and morale issue at home, with families hearing nothing from their deployed sons and with the troops on the frontlines. We get scenes of one mother going to the Whitehouse and waiting for days in the rain, eventually catching the eye/ear of the First Lady, who takes her plea to President Roosevelt.

 

One early scene I really enjoyed with the Major is when she arrives in Europe ahead of her troops (who are enjoying a less pleasant ocean crossing) .She see the aircraft hangar piled high with letters and packages, only to be told it isn't just this one, but all of them, the enormity of the task ahead becomes clear.

 

Handed a derelict school as a base of operations they get to work, first, creating liveable barracks within and sorting facilities for the task at hand. Naturally they encounter lots of difficulties along the way to build cinematic tension, a sexist/racist general, a meddlesome Army chaplain and a UXB but still power on.

 

The go on to develop methods, using the women's unique skillsets, to correctly re-direct the mail to troops who have moved since the mail was sent, illegible water damaged mail and rodent attacked food parcels with an almost forensic approach. Even in the face of losing two of their friends and them being denied a dignified burial with the other troops.

 

As we approach the end of the film, we see the mother from the earlier Whitehouse scene receiving delayed mail from her boys, families crying tears of joy to hear that their sons are alive and soldiers at the front gathering as their officers distribute mail finally arriving from home. In one scene a group of the women are entering what appears to be a train station where they are spotted by enlisted white men who ask if they are the 6888, there is tension for a moment while they confirm who they are before receiving a standing ovation from the crowd.

 

Possibly the bit I liked most at the end was when the words of the character Lena Derriecott become the words of the still living Lena Derriecott-King who speaks to the audience and we are introduced to some of the other real women who served here and the monument that was finally built to honour their service in 2018.

 

Highly recommended for anyone who wants a true story with an uplifting ending.

 

9.0/10  or 4.5 Stars

 

https://www.womenofthe6888th.org/ - A website honouring the women portrayed in this film.