Beauty is the latest release on the streaming platform Netflix. Beauty is the story of a young woman on the cusp of pop stardom, which sure seems inspired by Whitney Houston’s early career, even if it’s not stated outright. We open on an artsy montage: Beauty (Bradley) in front of a microphone in a recording studio, performing on stage, with her friend Jasmine (Aleyse Shannon). The movie settles in her bedroom, where she and Jasmine are talking. Beauty’s brother Abel (Kyle Bary) climbs through the window. Her mother (Niecy Nash) readies dinner downstairs. Half-brother Cain (Micheal Ward) unpacks suitcases from the car, because their father (Giancarlo Esposito) has just returned from a trip. Everyone sits down for a meal that reveals multiple layers of dysfunction. Father runs the show cruelly and abusively. Mother aspired to be a great singer but never became more than a backup; she cracks the whip on Beauty for six hours of practice every day. Abel is kind. Cain is nasty. Only Abel seems willing to fully embrace the idea of Jasmine being Beauty’s partner. We see Beauty again in that recording studio. She has a contract. Record label, management, either or both, it doesn’t matter. Father has negotiated the contract, and when Beauty suggests she get a lawyer to look at it, he sees that as an affront to his fatherhood.

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