Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker (Season 1)

Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker (2020) is a Netflix miniseries you can watch online on iFILM. Octavia Spencer plays Sarah Breedlove — a Louisiana laundress who built a haircare and cosmetics business from scratch at the turn of the twentieth century and became the first Black American woman recorded by contemporaries as a self-made millionaire. Tiffany Haddish, Carmen Ejogo, and Blair Underwood round out the lead cast.

Four episodes track the climb: segregation-era barriers, a skeptical husband, cutthroat competition from rival entrepreneur Annie Turnbo Malone, and the slow work of turning a product into a movement. Directed by DeMane Davis and Kasi Lemmons, the series doesn't smooth over Walker's contradictions — she makes real mistakes and not everyone she leaves behind is wrong to resent it. For viewers drawn to stories about building something against the grain of an entire social order, it's more substantive than the typical prestige biopic. Stream Self Made (2020) online on iFILM.