From Elvis to Bohemian Rhapsody, cinema has been positively littered with biopics about musical stars of late. It makes sense, then, that Bob Marley’s life is the latest to be thrust under the spotlight in a starry new movie.

Produced in partnership with the Marley family, Bob Marley: One Love celebrates “the life and music of an icon who inspired generations through his message of love and unity”, promises the official synopsis

“On the big screen for the first time, discover Bob’s powerful story of overcoming adversity and the journey behind his revolutionary music.”

Watch the trailer for Bob Marley: One Love below.

Starring Kingsley Ben-Adir as the legendary musician, the film opens in 1976 – and with an assassination attempt, no less. It then charts the following two years of the singer’s life: his decision to return to London from Jamaica, the challenges he faces as he reunites with his band and records Exodus, and the highs and lows of his relationship with his wife, Rita (Lashana Lynch).

It’s all about “who he was as a man, as a father, his experience as a child,” Ben-Adir tells Digital Spy of the film.

“I think the movie is about his journey to peace and love and togetherness and universal unity, and getting to understand how those themes related to him on a personal level – so internal safety, self-love and inner peace and where was Bob at with all of that at this time,” he adds.

Still, early reviews of the biopic have criticised director Reinaldo Marcus Green’s decision to focus on such a small chapter in Marley’s life. Because, other than a handful of flashbacks to the singer’s early days, viewers are shown very little of his rise to fame or the enormous impact he had upon the musical industry.

Others, too, have suggested that the film slides into hero worship, painting Marley out to be something of a saint. But the music is compelling, Ben-Adir and Lynch’s performances are utterly mesmerising, and the story is every bit as joyful as it is soulful.

Time will tell, we feel, whether it will earn its place in the musical biopic hall of fame.

Bob Marley: One Love is released in UK cinemas on 12 February.

Images: Paramount Pictures