Roots: The Gift

If you want a drama that takes its characters as seriously as its plot, Roots: The Gift is available on streaming right now. It says what it needs to say in one sitting, no filler. 14 viewers have already rated it on TMDB — the kind of consensus that does not happen by accident. LeVar Burton sets the tone, and the rest of the cast matches it scene for scene. Put it on tonight and see for yourself.

Roots: The Gift is not trying to be everything to everyone, and that focus is exactly what makes it work. Character-driven storytelling at its most effective — Roots: The Gift earns every emotional beat it goes for. On Christmas Eve 1770, a young African warrior, who three years prior had been captured and sold into slavery in America, leads a desperate group of runaway slaves as they attempt to reach freedom in the North. LeVar Burton and Louis Gossett Jr. Lead a cast doing genuinely serious work here. It hit screens in 1988. Roots: The Gift resists tidy resolutions in a way that respects how messy real consequences actually are. It delivers reliably on what it promises, which is more than most of its competition manages.

Viewers drawn to character-driven storytelling will find plenty to sit with in Roots: The Gift. It does not lean on comparisons to make its case. The complete film is available and best experienced without too much prior knowledge of where it goes. LeVar Burton is the centre of it, and it is one of their strongest performances on record. The patience it asks of you early on is paid back with interest.

Roots: The Gift was released in 1988, directed by Kevin Hooks. The full 93-minute film is available to watch now. Find exactly where it's streaming below, and TV Butler Pro makes it effortless to track your progress as you go. Just search the name, and Butler finds it instantly, tells you which service has it, and remembers exactly where you left off.