once upon a time in hollywood

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is a 2019 film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. It features a large ensemble cast led by Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, and Margot Robbie.

Set in 1969 Hollywood, the movie follows Rick Dalton(DiCaprio) an actor who was once a TV star of a popular Cowboy show but is dealing with his career fading and Cliff Booth(Pitt), Rick's friend, driver and stuntman, a former World War II soldier who is blacklisted from stunt work due to a past fight with Bruce Lee and rumors that he killed his wife. With the young and popular actress Sharon Tate(Robbie) as his neighbor, Rick hopes to befriend her and met her famous director husband, Roman Polanski, to help his career, which leads to a series of events for Rick and Cliff to the infamous Manson Family Murders.

The movie was praised by critics who saw the movie as a love letter to 1960s Hollywood culture. However, the movie drew controversy for it's subject about Sharon Tate since in real life, a pregnant Sharon Tate and her friends were murdered by the Manson cult, while in the movie, the murders never happen as the cult targeted Rick and Cliff instead, only to get killed themselves. Not helping matters was Tarantino talking with Roman Polanski's representatives for input, despite Roman is now a controversial figure after he was arrested for raping an underage girl in 1977 before escaping to France. Another controversy was the movie's negative portrayal of Bruce Lee in a flashback scene where Cliff fights Bruce Lee, who is portrayed as an arrogant jerk who talks big, during the set of The Green Hornet, which was criticized by his family and friends and the movie not releasing in China.

A sequel, The Adventures of Cliff Booth, directed by David Fincher and Pitt returning as Cliff, is set to be released in 2026 by Netflix.