As the countdown begins to the 2022 Academy Awards, let us take a look back, at the top 10 films that made the cut for Best Picture. For this, Our Today‘s 2022 Best Picture review series, our first movie of focus will be King Richard.

Film does not focus on Serena

King Richard, starring veteran actor Will Smith, is a biopic focusing on the lives of tennis superstars Venus and Serena Williams and their father, Richard.

The film, which takes a look at the sisters’ early years, primarily focuses on the work they had to put in to get to where they are now.

While Serena is the more famous and successful of the two, and would have made for a more interesting and entertaining backstory, King Richard placed the spotlight on older sister, Venus, which sad to say, was quite disappointing.

At no point in time did audiences really see the film’s attention being diverted to the younger sister, nor did we get the chance to see the Serena of today in action during her yesteryears. In fact, King Richard‘s ending was entirely focused on Venus, showing audiences her performance in 1994 Bank of the West Classic, a WTA Tour competition.

Those not familiar with the Williams sisters, would likely be led to believe that this prelude meant Venus went on to be the better and more successful of the two.

Understandably, Venus was the first make a name for herself on the international tennis circuit, but it still feels a bit odd given how much of a superstar Serena went on to become.

Not the typical black family

It was refreshing to see that two of the greatest black tennis players in the game were not subject to the typical impoverished lifestyle of ‘black success’. The family of seven – Serena, Venus, three other sisters, Richard and now ex-wife Oracene Price – did quite well financially and lived in fairly safe and upstanding community.

Not to mention the family had enough funds to afford a vehicle, outside dining, tennis outfits, a video camera and rackets – all this on the budget of a nightly security guard and a nurse.

Oracene was very instrumental in Serena’s success

While the older sister received most of the attention and opportunities, Oracene, as mother’s usually are, was intuitive and smart enough to realise that Serena might have felt neglected and began speeding a great deal of time training her and encouraging her to continue in her push forward.

It was quite heartwarming to surprising to see, especially because audiences were given the initial impression that it was just their father who was integral in their success. Furthermore, Price seemed to be quite knowledgeable of the sport, explaining to her daughter the best ways to get maximum effect. Today, Price has become known for being a tennis coach.

Serena saw her own potential as a child

Even as a child, Serena was a firm believer in her potential and how great she could become.

In the film audiences see that even though her older sister received all the opportunities and attention, instead of moping and displaying feelings of jealousy, she went ahead and entered herself in competitions all while supporting Venus.