“Hidden Figures” is about wrongs being belatedly made right. Based on Margot Lee Shetterly’s nonfiction book, the Theodore Melfi-directed film tells the story of three African-American women who worked at NASA while the 1960s space race was at a fever pitch.
Though they had each proved their worth before, the three toiled at data entry jobs and were denied promotion based on nothing more than race. Nevertheless, the trio — played by Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monáe — would perform crucial roles in our nation’s efforts.
Henson plays Katherine Goble, a math prodigy who is finally assigned to a team that calculates launch coordinates.