Is Australia’s The Sapphires better than America’s Dreamgirls? Well, in terms of the films about these girl groups, it’s a bit of a challenge to compare considering historical inaccuracy. Nevertheless, writer Tony Briggs tells his family’s story with finesse, taking the real life narrative to tell us a surprisingly multilayered story of Aboriginal Australia in the 70s, of singers inspired by soul across the Pacific, and of a family torn apart by forced adoptions and state-sanctioned separation of white-passing mixed-race children. There are times when it stumbles into the usual biopic traps, and some of the inaccuracies do detract focus from the central ladies, but The Sapphires still works with its sweet, wholehearted characters, and the way they present their songs.

Given the target audience, it’s easy to understand the addition of a fictional white manager character– having a manager clears up some of the logistics that we don’t really need to see on-screen, and it helps flesh out Gail’s resentment for half-white Kay on account of her race. Chris O’Dowd was also pretty charming as Dave. That being said, there are moments where it feels like the film focused a bit too much on Dave when they could have focused more time on the girls themselves.