It's disheartening to find that much of what makes this film worthwhile seems to be in the promotional material. What remains feels oddly detached from the lively spirit and innovative nature of the person it portrays. While Kingsley Ben-Amir gives a fairly captivating performance, the supporting characters feel underdeveloped and mostly present for show. There’s scant explanation offered; we aren't told why he is held in such high regard on his native Jamaica initially. The narrative abruptly throws us into a tense political situation before quickly shifting to London and his family in Delaware—again, with very little background information to grasp the significance of what occurred and why he was so central to both sides of that conflict, whether living or deceased. The final twenty minutes do provide more opportunity to showcase his musical abilities, and KBA performs them with energy and genuine interest, but ultimately I felt it only scratched the surface of his mysteriousness. James Norton appears to be there simply because he enjoys the music, and Lashana Lynch is entirely forgettable. Son Ziggy might have contributed to this, but the film fails to fully realize a story that seemed destined for success on political, musical, and cultural levels. It’s just a rather disappointing account of his life, skimming over events like a needle across an old record. A real shame.

Source on TMDB