In the heart of the 1960s space race, a team of brilliant but unseen women at NASA becomes the unexpected key to launching America into orbit. "Hidden Figures" tells the inspiring true story of Katherine Johnson Taraji P. Henson, Dorothy Vaughan Octavia Spencer, and Mary Jackson Janelle Monae, three African-American mathematicians whose calculations are vital to Project Mercury. Working as "human computers" in the segregated West Area of the Langley Research Center, they face a dual challenge: the complex physics of spaceflight and the pervasive racial and gender prejudices of the era. As the pressure mounts to catch up with the Soviet Union, their supervisor Al Harrison Kevin Costner and colleagues like Vivian Mitchell Kirsten Dunst and Paul Stafford Jim Parsons must confront the institutional barriers that threaten to waste this extraordinary talent. This uplifting drama, directed by Theodore Melfi, celebrates the triumph of intellect and perseverance, revealing the unsung heroes who, against all odds, helped win the race to the stars.