Directed by:
Steve McQueenCinematography:
Sean BobbittComposer:
Hans ZimmerCast:
Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki, Cynthia Erivo, Colin Farrell, Brian Tyree Henry, Daniel Kaluuya, Garret Dillahunt, Carrie Coon (more)VOD (3)
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From acclaimed director Steve McQueen and co-writer Gillian Flynn comes a blistering, modern-day thriller with a powerful ensemble cast. When four armed robbers are killed in a failed heist attempt, their widows - with nothing in common except a debt left by their dead husbands’ criminal activities - take fate into their own hands to forge a future on their own terms. (20th Century Fox Home Entertainment)
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Reviews (9)
My favorite author of the books for Gone Girl and Sharp Objects has teamed up with the director of 12 Years a Slave to knead together a sort of female variation on the heist movie. It actually turned out pretty well, but I can't help feeling that more could have been mined from the material. Anyway, I have to appreciate the attempt at originality, at least in the sense that the main characters did not choose their fate and were basically pushed to it by external circumstances. The whole story thus becomes much more fateful and all the attempts at social resonance seem quite credible. And it might as well have been called A Frightening Legacy.
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Steve McQueen is a solid craftsman and his dramatic opening chase scene is fiercely authentic and almost chillingly realistic, but Widows won’t be a big hit, and not even the charisma of Viola Davis and Hans Zimmer’s rehash of his Synchrotone from Black Hawk Down will help. The monotonous atmospheric synths are often reminiscent of Michael Mann's heist gem, or The Dark Knight, but everything else is terribly far from that. The film can be raw and dramatic, but it's marred by a not-so-cleverly handled and mostly unnecessary twist like a 90s B-movie that actually sends it down the drain, and most of the seriousness is gone by that point. There is no probe into the underbelly of Chicago, nor is there an ode to female combativeness and determination. It’s just another ordinary crime drama, this time with women who want to be taken seriously playing the main roles.
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After a string of dramas, Steve McQueen has made heist movie, a drama about widows who lost their husbands to criminals and now are left with huge debts and problems with people you don't want to associate with. Acting wise the film is top notch, but if you go to the cinema to see The Punisher or Liam Neeson you will probably be disappointed. But there is still a great Colin Farrell and a solid female cast with a tough Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez and a sexy Elizabeth Debicki, whom I liked the most. Apart from the actors, it is a realistic story full of complications and one very solid twist with a couple of minor twists, decent cinematography and a well paced heist finale that left me breathless at times. Unfortunately the film is over two hours long and apart from a good opening and finale, it doesn't offer that much interesting and I couldn't bear the deaf passages, unfortunately. Decent craftsmanship and acting quality, but it didn't really grow on me. 65%
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An unbelievably racist and gender-biased film. No white man is innocent. McQueen serves up an unorthodox heist flick in which girls have to take care of things by themselves. The brilliant and vibrant Zimmer sets the pace and the female cast rocks. Out of all of them, Elizabeth Debicky is the most captivating (and not just visually). The twist with Neeson is unusual. The political storyline is reminiscent of The Wire. The ending is deeply ironic. P.S. Jon Bernthal didn’t last long. (joke, ha ha).
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The collaboration between McQueen and Zimmer promised a gripping experience full of tension and a mature touch. While I did experience these feelings a few times during the film, I wouldn't label it as fully successful. The cast is outstanding, no doubt about that. Viola Davis, in particular, doesn’t need to prove anything anymore, but she still delivered a top-notch, profoundly HUMAN performance. This aspect is often lacking in films. The father-son duo of Farrell and Duvall also shone, but their storyline could have used more screen time; I wouldn’t have minded at all. Moreover, Daniel Kaluuya steals a few moments for himself, sending chills down my spine. The idea of a heist carried out by widows initially appealed to me, but the film’s execution of this original and clever concept didn’t impress me as much. There’s also a lack of deep understanding of the main female characters since the film doesn’t delve into their relationships much, which is a disappointment. However, I admit that by the end, I was as tense as could be. Add Zimmer’s thunderous score and the chilling actions of everyone involved, and you get a positive outcome. It’s worthy of four stars, but it has its shortcomings, preventing it from soaring higher. A shame. I give it 70%.
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