This drama is culled from a fascinating life. In 1700s England, Dido Elizabeth Belle was born to a black mother who was a slave and a white father who was a British naval officer. When her mother died, Dido was taken in by her father's aristocratic family. "Belle" follows Dido (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) as she benefits from her new home - the fine education, the supportive family, the luxurious clothes - but smartly explores how she still faces social constraints and outright racism. She becomes engrossed in a case that her uncle, a lord chief justice (Tom Wilkinson, superb), has to rule on: a crew murdered its ship's slaves by throwing them overboard and then tried to get insurance money for the loss. While "Belle" delves into racial issues of the day, it's also spiked with Jane Austen-esque courtships and explorations of a woman's lot in life. "Belle" does have a tendency, though, to veer into romance-novel territory; the scenes between Dido and a vicar's son - who is clearly, in the midst of all the banter, her true love - can be heavy-handed. I wish Amma Assante had trusted that her direction could be more subtle.

- KRISTINA DORSEY