At a Glance

Director Joseph Sargent's film is a bold retelling of a vital chapter in the history of the medical profession.

Detailed Information

Something the Lord Made tells the emotional true story of two men who defied the rules of their time to launch a medical revolution, set against the backdrop of the Jim Crow south.

Working in 1940s Baltimore on an unprecedented technique for performing heart surgery on "blue babies," Dr. Alfred Blalock (Alan Rickman) and lab technician Vivien Thomas (Mos Def) form an impressive team. As Blalock and Thomas invent a new field of medicine, saving thousands of lives in the process, social pressures threaten to undermine their collaboration and tear their friendship apart.

Under any other circumstances the men would have been exhilarated by their advances, and widely applauded throughout the medical profession. But the dark heart of the south causes innumerable problems for the brave pioneers, as the prejudices brought to bear on the men become unbearable. Moving and dramatic in equal measures, director Joseph Sargent's film is a bold retelling of a vital chapter in the history of the medical profession.