Imagine having to endure the emotional labor of seeing your own story told, without the comfort of knowing that you control it or enjoying compensation for it either. Henrietta Lacks raises questions about ethics, both artistic and biomedical.

As a portrait of unlikely female friendship and impassioned campaigning it did justice to little-known heroine Lacks.

If the film pushes Henrietta to the edges, it is at least to make room for a performance from Winfrey that tells us all there is to know about the damage that loss, lies and injustice can do to a child, to an adult, to a family and to a society.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks stop short of directly indicting specific parties on the family's behalf. The resulting film is moving and accessible, but it offers no absolution.