I’ll admit it—I sometimes skim contracts and just trust the numbers. Be honest, you probably do too. Now imagine being 11 years old and knowing that if you miss even one clause, grown men will steal everything you own. That’s the world of Sarah’s Oil, and it’s both infuriating and inspiring to watch.
Based on a true story from early 1900s Oklahoma, Sarah’s Oil follows young Sarah, a Black girl who received over 100 acres through the Creek Nation land allotment system. While others saw worthless prairie, Sarah believed there was oil beneath her land—and she was right. What follows is her battle against men who tried to steal her future out from under her.
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But here’s what makes this story remarkable: Sarah fights back not with tears or pleas, but with the one weapon they never expected her to have—education. She can read every contract. She can do the math. And she refuses to be lied to.
Newcomer Naya Johnson is spectacular as Sarah, and she understands something crucial about playing intelligence: less is more. When Sarah reads contracts or checks calculations, Johnson doesn’t play it as a child prodigy having a eureka moment. She plays it as simple competence—a girl who paid attention in school and refuses to be taken advantage of. That choice makes Sarah feel real rather than like a Hollywood fantasy, and it makes her victories feel earned.
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The most satisfying moment in the film comes when a man tries to claim Sarah’s well and property as his own. He’s confident, probably assuming an 11-year-old Black girl won’t know any better. But Sarah doesn’t cry or back down. She firmly tells him he’s wrong. She has the contract. He’s simply lying. Watching Johnson deliver this moment with quiet, unshakable certainty is thrilling. There’s no dramatic music swell, no courtroom theatrics—just a young girl who did her homework calling out a grown man’s con. It’s the kind of scene that makes you want to stand up and cheer.
There’s something particularly powerful about watching Sarah sit down with contracts that were designed to confuse and cheat her, only to catch every lie because she can actually read and calculate. In an era when many tried to deny Black children—especially girls—access to education, Sarah’s literacy becomes her greatest weapon. The film makes a quiet but powerful statement: knowledge is power, especially when others assume you don’t have it.
Sarah’s Oil also captures the unique vulnerability of children in the adult world of business and law. Sarah shouldn’t have to fight these battles at 11 years old, but the film doesn’t infantilize her or pretend she needs to be rescued. It shows her doing the work herself, line by line, number by number, until she finds exactly where they’re trying to cheat her.
The supporting cast brings depth to Sarah’s world, giving weight to both the people trying to help her and those trying to exploit her. The antagonists are played with enough menace to make you genuinely worried for Sarah, while never descending into cartoon villainy.
Sarah’s Oil is an important reminder of the systemic barriers that prevented Black families from building generational wealth—and the extraordinary individuals who fought back anyway. It’s also a surprisingly timely story about the importance of reading the fine print and trusting your own judgment over someone else’s word.
I highly recommend this film, especially for young people who need to see that intelligence and persistence can win against overwhelming odds. Sarah’s story deserves to be known, and Naya Johnson’s performance ensures it will be remembered.
Grade: A
There are no extra scenes during, or after, the end credits of Sarah’s Oil.
| Rated: | (PG) NA |
| Genres: | Drama |
| USA release date: | 2025-11-06 |
| Movie length: | |
| Starring: | Zachary Levi, Naya Desir-Johnson, Sonequa Martin-Green, Garret Dillahunt, Bridget Regan |
| Director: | Cyrus Nowrasteh |
| Writer(s): | Betsy Giffen Nowrasteh, Cyrus Nowrasteh |
| Language: | en |
| Country: | US |
Plot
Sarah Rector, an African-American girl born in Oklahoma Indian Territory in the early 1900s, believes there is oil beneath the barren land she’s allotted, and her faith is proven right. As greedy oil sharks close in, Sarah turns to her family, friends, and some Texas wildcatters to maintain control of her oil-rich land, eventually becoming among the nation’s first female African-American millionaires—at eleven years old.
RunPee.com owes RunPee Sis a huge debt of gratitude. She sees any movie needed with no complaints and has done so for ten years (even basing Thanksgiving and Christmas family festivities around the seeing films). In 2015 Sis ran the entire RunPee enterprise herself, while RunPee Dan, Jilly and Mom went traipsing off to Europe. Sis is the spider in the web holding the RunPee family together — besides being a funny, well rounded person, and a joyous pleasure to be around. Her favorite films start and end with horror (which thank goodness she’s happy to see, since most of us don’t have the stomach for it) — but also likes silly comedies, sad dramas, and musicals of all types. If you’ve used a Peetime for a scary film, you probably have RunPee Sis to thank for it.
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