Sarah’s Oil (2025) Amazon MGM/Drama RT: 103 minutes Rated PG (thematic content, some violence, language including racial slurs, a suggestive reference) Director: Cyrus Nowrasteh Screenplay: Betsy Giffen Nowrasteh and Cyrus Nowrasteh Music: Kathryn Bostic Cinematography: Johnny Derango Release date: November 7, 2025 (US) Cast: Naya Desir-Johnson, Zachary Levi, Kenric Green, Sonequa Martin-Green, Mel Rodriguez, Adyan Copes, Bridget Regan, Garret Dillahunt, Stelio Savante, Marco Fuller, Jonathan Lipnicki.
Rating: ***
It would easy to dismiss the BOATS drama Sarah’s Oil as the family-friendly version of Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, but it would be unfair. It’s its own movie. It deals with a lot of the same issues in the same setting (Oklahoma’s Osage Nation), but it centers on a different set of characters being treated unfairly by the all-white establishment. They’re not Native American; they’re black.
In 1913, an 11YO black girl named Sarah Rector (Johnson in her first major role) receives 160 acres of land as per the Treaty of 1866. Sarah, an educated and strong-minded girl, claims she can hear oceans of oil down in the ground. Her father Joe (Green, The Walking Dead) is skeptical, but her deeply religious mother Rose (Green, Boston Blue) is moved by her words: “God gave me ears to hear.” Father and daughter go to town where they convince wealthy oilman Jim Devnan (Dillahunt, Winter’s Bone) to come check it out for himself. He, of course, turns out to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing- i.e. he’s a liar and a crook.
Sarah finds an ally in Bert Smith (Levi, The Unbreakable Boy), a wildcatter forever seeking his fortune with his business partner Mace (Rodriguez, The Last Man on Earth). Sarah, a perfect mix of confidence and persuasiveness, convinces Bert to partner up with her. He agrees to pick up where Devnan left off, drilling her land with equipment the dishonest businessman conveniently left behind. That right there should have told Sarah and her family that he’s up to something. He sends a couple of guys to intimate the family into handing over the deed to the land. Sarah fights like hell to keep what’s rightfully hers.
Bert is conflicted. He wants to be rich. This is his golden opportunity. At the same time, he comes to care about the little girl. He doesn’t want to betray her. Devnan offers him the chance to achieve his dream of wealth, but it would mean doing Sarah wrong. What’s a guy always a million bucks shy of being a millionaire to do? Seeing that Sarah’s Oil is one of those inspirational dramas, I think you know what he’s going to do.
Directed by Cyrus Nowrasteh (The Young Messiah), Sarah’s Oil is a pretty good movie. Some are calling it a faith-based film and while God is mentioned a few times, it’s not overly religious or preachy. It simply tells a compelling story about an extraordinary real-life person who defied society norms and fought discrimination and injustice. The movie also deals with the law requiring white guardianship for minorities who were deemed incapable of handling their own finances. That’s how it was with the Native Americans and that’s how it was with blacks. It was a legal way to take their money and keep them down. I’m pleased to see a family movie that isn’t afraid to openly speak about the hard truth of American history.
You know I hate to resort to clichés, but I do believe a star is born in Sarah’s Oil. Her name is Naya Desir-Johnson and I predict you’ll be hearing a lot about her in the near future. She’s amazing as Sarah Rector, a young girl as fearless and she is intelligent. This, of course, puts off all the white people who assume she’s an ignorant child. Sarah is one kid that doesn’t let too much get by her. She knows when the adults are trying to pull one over. Johnson makes the character believable by always keeping her performance in check. It’s unusually measured for a child in her first big role. Levi is pretty good as Bert, a man torn between wealth and his conscience. He has a good rapport with Johnson. The two play well off of each other. Look at the scene where Sarah calls him out for off-handedly using a racial slur. She doesn’t over-emote; he listens and takes it in.
There’s really no need to talk about the technical aspects of Sarah’s Oil. The sets, costumes and everything else are all period authentic. The most important thing is it’s a good movie. It’s good not great. It’s completely predictable and formulaic. The outcome is a foregone conclusion even if you don’t know the real Sarah Rector’s story. It held my interest throughout. That, I think, is a ringing endorsement.
SPOILER: The dog does NOT die. He gets injured and runs off, but comes back.
