Something the Lord Made (2004)

I really enjoyed the chemistry between Alan Rickman and Yasiin Bey in this HBO film about heart surgery pioneers Alfred Blalock and Vivien Thomas. It’s a fairly standard biopic portraying the years long partnership of the two, but also does a decent job of detailing the numerous racial injustices Thomas experienced as ‘just’ a researcher. There are a handful of small, mostly underutilized roles played by some strong actors, like Kyra Sedgwick, Mary Stuart Masterson, Merritt Wever, and Gabrielle Union, but the film is really between Rickman and Bey.