Movie Review – Widows

Four women, who discover they owe a debt left behind by their husbands who were killed during a heist gone wrong, team up to settle the debt while creating a solid future of their own. Meanwhile, two corrupt politicians compete for office while their campaigning and false promises complicate and clutter the progress set by the widowed women. These complications helps reveal inner strengths and talents the women were unaware they had – this helps make them an effective team.

WIDOWS (2018) stars Viola Davis as Veronica, Elizabeth Debicki as Alice, Michelle Rodriguez as Linda, and Carrie Coon as Amanda. The four women simultaneously lose their husbands in an explosion, leaving the women with a hefty debt. Liam Neeson plays Harry Rawlings, Violet’s husband, who heads a crew made up of additional husbands Florek (Jon Bernthal), Carlos (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), and Jimmy Nunn (Coburn Goss).

Brian Tyree Henry plays Jamal Manning, a local politician who chooses to combine politics and religion as his doctrine. Meanwhile, Manning becomes aware of the heist gone wrong and threatens Violet to either recover or produce the money owed to him. Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out (2017)) plays Manning’s son Jatemme, who callously and independently enjoys threatening the individuals his father feels require motivation. Jon Michael Hill​ plays Reverend Wheeler, a local evangelist. Manning vies for the reverend’s political support and for the votes and attention of the reverend’s followers. The reverend openly voices his preference for supporting Manning’s political opponent, Jack Mulligan (Colin Farrell). Jack is overseen and struggles in the shadow of his bigoted and old schooled father, Tom Mulligan (Robert Duvall). Cynthia Erivo plays Belle, who is recruited by the widows to assist them when one of the women declines to participate in their funds recovery plan. All characters play influential and intricate roles in the film. They are all selectively interwoven and linked to each other, for better or for worse actively motivating and affecting each other’s lives while continuously moving the story along.

Gender roles play a bigger part than race or class in Widows. The women are thrown into a situation where their best talents and contributions are brought to the surface to aid them with succeeding in their efforts. Perseverance aids the women with overcoming their past fears, abuse, neglect, and the dismissiveness they have received from the supportive players up to this point.

Director Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave (2013)) succeeds with another note-worthy, intense and thought-provoking film. Widows is more than a heist film – it’s a film with a message. Much like many films of this genre, you will be entertained while you learn. Check it out.