The film is based on the 2019 magazine article "Fighting a Two-Front War", by Kevin M. Hymel, on the contributions of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, an all-Black and all-female battalion, in World War II.
The Six Triple Eight was released in select cinemas on December 6, 2024, before its streaming debut by Netflix on December 20, 2024, receiving mixed to negative reviews.
Plot
A West Virginian mother waits daily for news from her two sons serving overseas. Meanwhile, childhood friends Lena and Abram face the difficulty of their budding romance (Lena is black and Abram is Jewish) in 1940s Philadelphia, as he prepares to deploy. Abram dies shortly after being commissioned as an officer pilot, so the heart-broken Lena vows to enlist upon graduation.
On the train to basic training in Georgia, Lena meets other enlistees who will become her friends. They are trained by Captain Charity Adams and Lieutenant Noel Campbell. Despite being well-trained, the battalion is not given orders.
The general explains that mail is not being delivered because they have had to prioritize delivery of supplies. As a consequence, millions of letters and packages have piled up in hangars in Britain. Clearing the backlog has become a logistical nightmare that several units haven't been able to resolve, including a white women's unit. Bethune maintains, however, that the Black Women's Army Corps can do it, so Captain Adams' unit is finally given orders.
The battalion has to cross a stormy Atlantic in the ocean liner Île de France without naval escort. When they arrive in Glasgow, they face the racist commanding officer General Halt, who forces them to march through the city immediately upon landing to a disused, rat-infested, unheated boarding school, which is to become their base.
The newly promoted Major Adams and her second-in-command Captain Campbell are given six months to turn the school into a post office and barracks and clear a two-year backlog of undelivered mail. The deadline is intended to ensure their failure.
Once the battalion has toiled to put together liveable quarters, a pristine mess hall and a well-organized mail sorting hall, the work can begin. One day Lena loses her composure upon seeing nonchalant handling of dog tags found in damaged letters. She breaks down to her friends, revealing her connection to Abram and how she never received any letters from him, so she knows first-hand how important their job is. Her friends promise to look out for any letter addressed to her and Major Adams tells Lena that her story has also made her realize the importance of their work.
Along with a notification that their first two months of sorted mail was undeliverable, the battalion is asked to host African-American soldiers to boost morale. Lena sees Hugh there, who she had met previously. They start to dance, but she soon leaves upon hearing a song she associates with Abram. So they decide to be friends.
When it is discovered that an occasional letter is opened, the battalion members point out various difficulties and challenges they face. These include multiple cases of identical names, multiple locator cards for soldiers as their units move, rats are damaging addresses and their contents and mold, among other things.
After FDR's death, a white chaplain arrives, delivering a sermon which undermines Major Adams' qualifications and morals. Then, finding his extremely negative report on her, she has his things packed and sends him off.
The same day that a letter from Abram to Lena is found, two women of their unit die from a bomb en route to the school. After their burial, Lena is able to visit his grave, where she reads his letter. In it, he tells her to live a long life, so she finally gets closure.
General Halt visits the 6888, criticizing them harshly. As they work around the clock, the night shift is sleeping when he arrives. Halt is not allowed in the showers lest someone is showering. After he inspects the mail sorting area, he declares Major Adams incompetent and he will replace her with a white male.
Adams responds "over my dead body", on which she elaborates eloquently in the General's face, makes clear that she will not step down. The soldiers who heard the exchange remain standing at attention until she comes down to get them to start work again, whereupon they give the Major rousing applause.
As General Halt is trying to push Major Adams' court martial through, he hears cheers from his unit as their mail finally arrives. The 6888 successfully straightened the backlog of two years or 17 million pieces of mail in just 90 days, despite the challenges. They were later sent to Rouen, France, to clear another backlog. Lena later marries Hugh, living a long life.
The women of the 6888 were not especially appreciated when returning to US soil at the time. Much later, Michelle Obama oversees a ceremony honoring the 6888. Also, US Army Base Fort Lee was renamed partially in Adams' honor.
It was announced in December 2022 that Tyler Perry would be writing and directing the film Six Triple Eight for Netflix.[3] The film is based on historian Kevin M. Hymel's article, "Fighting a Two-Front War", published in the February 2019 issue of WWII History magazine.[4] In January 2023, the cast, including Kerry Washington, Sam Waterston, Susan Sarandon and Oprah Winfrey was announced, with Washington also joining as an executive producer.[5]
The Six Triple Eight (Soundtrack from the Netflix Film) (2024)
The film score was composed by Aaron Zigman, who had previously scored 13 Perry films, starting with Why Did I Get Married? (2007), in collaboration with music supervisor Joel C. High, film editor Maysie Hoy, and music editor Johnny Caruso.[10] For The Six Triple Eight, Zigman was influenced by the big band era, as well as composers Aaron Copland and Samuel Barber, with most of his creative process being done at the piano. The first cue written for the film was for the scene where the battalion come off the ship after arriving in Europe.[10]The Six Triple Eight (Soundtrack from the Netflix Film) was released digitally on December 6, 2024, through Netflix Music. "The Journey", the song that plays over the film's end credits, was written by Diane Warren and performed by H.E.R., who also played guitar and piano on the track.[11][12] The ballad was previously used to soundtrack ESPN's coverage of the 2023 NBA Finals.[13] A music video, featuring H.E.R. performing in concert intercut with clips from the film, was released in November 2024.[14] For the 97th Academy Awards, Zigman's score was shortlisted in the category of Best Original Score while Warren's "The Journey" was shortlisted in the category of Best Original Song.[15]
The Six Triple Eight (Soundtrack from the Netflix Film) track listing
No.
Title
Length
1.
"Trenches"
2:55
2.
"Kiss Me"
1:38
3.
"Mail Delivery"
1:02
4.
"Abram Letter"
1:52
5.
"Boarding the Train"
1:15
6.
"Women Arriving at Camp"
2:49
7.
"Capt. Adams Addresses the Troops"
2:14
8.
"Eleanor Roosevelt"
0:58
9.
"Gas Chamber"
2:03
10.
"Mary McLeod Bethune Speaks"
2:09
11.
"Training Montage"
1:19
12.
"Movie Theatre Confrontation"
1:29
13.
"Orders"
0:54
14.
"Appropriate Accommodations"
1:04
15.
"Flashback"
0:50
16.
"Arriving in England"
4:20
17.
"This Is Our Mission"
1:25
18.
"Letters and Friendship"
1:15
19.
"Lena, You're a Soldier"
1:27
20.
"Jigsaw Puzzle"
1:44
21.
"Evil Women"
1:18
22.
"Lena Has a Realization"
2:03
23.
"UEXB"
0:51
24.
"Abram's Letter"
1:12
25.
"Finding Abram"
4:26
26.
"General Calls HQ"
4:28
27.
"Bonus Track"
4:27
Release
In February 2024, Six Triple Eight was reported to be part of Netflix's 2024 release calendar, with a specific date yet to be announced.[16][17][18] In August 2024, Netflix announced that the film, now titled The Six Triple Eight, would be released in a limited theatrical release on December 6, 2024, with a streaming release two weeks later on December 20 on Netflix.[19]
Reception
Critical reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 50% of 42 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.4/10.The website's consensus reads: "The Six Triple Eight recounts an important true story with a steely Kerry Washington at command, but its treacly presentation unfortunately doesn't let these inspiring events speak for themselves."[20]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 51 out of 100, based on 14 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[21]
Film critic Peter Debruge from Variety gave it a positive review, writing: "The Six Triple Eight gives Perry his best and most substantial feature to date (only 2010's ensemble melodrama For Colored Girls comes close)... The film boasts a large enough cast to launch a dozen or so careers, and yet, one performance stands head and shoulders above the others: That would be Washington's forceful turn as Adams, who holds her own against arrogant white officers."[22]Frank Scheck from The Hollywood Reporter also gave it a positive review, praising Obsidian and Washington's performances.[23] Jesse Hassenger from The Guardian gave it 2/5 stars, writing: "Kerry Washington hams it up in the writer-director's stodgy ode to a battalion of women in the second world war who deserve far better".[24]
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Charity Adams Earley was a United States Army officer. She was the first African-American woman to become an officer in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps and was the commanding officer of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, which was made up of African-American women serving overseas during World War II. Adams was the highest-ranking African-American woman in the army by the completion of the war.
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The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, nicknamed the "Six Triple Eight", was an all-Black battalion of the US Women's Army Corps (WAC) that managed postal services. The 6888th had 855 women and was led by Major Charity Adams. It was the only predominantly Black US Women's Army Corps unit sent overseas during World War II. The group motto was "No mail, low morale". The battalion was organized into five companies: Headquarters, and Companies A, B, C, and D. Most of the 6888th worked as postal clerks, but others were cooks, mechanics and held other support positions, so that the 6888th was a self-sufficient unit.
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Lena Derriecott Bell King was a member of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, the only all-Black, all-female unit to serve overseas during World War II. Known as the "Six Triple Eight", this battalion played a critical role in maintaining morale for U.S. troops in Europe by clearing a massive backlog of undelivered mail. In 2022, the Congressional Gold Medal was awarded to the 6888th in recognition of its members' contributions. King was one of the Battalion's last five surviving members.
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