WIDOWS: Electrifying Heist-Drama

Steve McQueen’s red-hot streak continues with his latest release Widows, a decidedly more mainstream picture that brilliantly balances his filmmaking sensibilities in a more crowd-pleasing genre fare. Uniting one of the starriest casts you will see this year (led by the astonishing Viola Davis, who finally gets to sink her teeth into a lead feature-length role) and co-writer Gillian Flynn, Widows is a shatteringly great heist-thriller bound to enrapture audiences along for the mission.

When Veronica Rawlins (Davis) is unexpectedly widowed following her husband’s death in a heist-gone-wrong, the grieving process is interrupted when the targets of the failed robbery return for their money. With the blueprints for her husband’s next mission and in desperate need to pay off his debts, Veronica assembles a team of the women left behind to complete the job. Playing out alongside a heated political showdown between the Mulligans and the Mannings, Widows is a sharply-focused piece on the disenfranchised of modern-day Chicago, where rife divisions between wealth and poverty, but the more blurred separation between good and evil, are rooted in a real sense of location, place and context.

Breathlessly compelling, nerve-shreddingly tense

Breathlessly compelling and nerve-shreddingly tense, Widows is an electrifying experience. From beginning to end, throughout all 130 taut and tense minutes, McQueen keeps us perched on the edge of our seats; with trademarks of the genre infused skillfully into the thunderous screenplay he has cooked up with Flynn – one very much rooted in the here and now –  this well-crafted thriller thrives because of its timely themes and empowering female angle. It’s no coincidence that the film is being released so close to an American election, consolidating such culturally-relevant themes of class deprivation, upper-class greed and gender perceptions in a boiling pot of urgent social issues. Flynn and McQueen’s screenplay illuminates, scorches and smashes, like a sledgehammer to the zeitgeist.

McQueen’s direction enriches the story with a sense of place and female empowerment, helping to set it apart within the crowded cinema space. Meticulously-directed, the way McQueen explores Chicago – its partitions and its inequality – is inspired. Be it the short drive from a run-down area of town to a politician’s gated mansion minutes away that stays fixated on the city’s roadside (overlapped with a damning conversation that elucidates the beliefs of the election’s frontrunner beyond the bravado), to the outstanding way it astutely flits between the past and the present, Widows is always saying (and doing) more than you may initially think. What may seem like a typical convention is utilised in a way to speak wider and bolder, while never losing the excitement critical to the genre’s success.

It maintains such a momentum and the energy builds palpably over the two-hours-plus runtime, reaching a crescendo in the final act that completely takes your breath away. Joe Walker’s rapid-fire editing is nimble-footed and well-paced, featuring one of the most impressive opening sequences of the year. As the past and present bleeds together seamlessly, bolstered by the masterful sound editing and mixing that so effectively absorb you into this dangerous, cruel world, it is safe to say that you are hooked from the word go.

Hans Zimmer‘s exceptional score is furiously charged, oozing with a dark intensity as his visceral work heightens every thrill, shock and surprise to electrifying effect. Equalled with impeccable camera movement and placement which is enhanced by Sean Bobbitt’s smart and sleek cinematography, Widows is a lean and mean machine with every department working in unison to deliver a film as visually sharp as it is thematically deft.

Although you are required to suspend your disbelief throughout the narrative’s relentless, occasionally clunky, twists and turns, the story unfolds in such a tangible fashion that you cannot help but be so intensely compelled by the unfolding drama and thrills. This is a film best experienced in a packed performance venue, where it will prosper from immediate audience reactions – and goodness will you get them. It keeps you guessing and just when you think you have it sussed, it pulls the rug from under your feet, throwing you up in the air where you find yourself scrambling to land on your feet before the next big reveal. Those expecting an all-out thriller may be disappointed; but this character-driven, thematically-powerful content, I’d argue, is better than the more generic attempts out there.

Ferocious performances from an extraordinary ensemble

Ferociously enthralling, Viola Davis is as remarkable as ever as the lead. Undoubtedly one of the industry’s superlative working actors today, Davis has rarely gotten the chance to attack a role with this much gusto before, often relegated to supporting turns – but she proves once and for all that she can imbue any performance with a complexity that gives all of her characters a real depth, captivating beyond words. Balancing a determined energy with the vulnerability of the ‘fish out of water’ type, Davis balances the two exceedingly well, evoking empathy without causing you to take pity on her. It’s a sharp, kinetic accomplishment deserving of the highest recognition and plaudits as we enter a busy, competitive award season.

While Davis is the clearly Widows‘ lead, this really is an ensemble effort, absent a weak link in the entire, well-cast chain. All give generously, enhancing the work of their co-stars while taking their moment in the spotlight and running with it. Elizabeth Debicki is the film’s supporting standout, delivering a dramatic intensity that is fantastically tinged with a spark of visual and spoken humour that she so consistently and charmingly nails. It’s a (literally and figuratively) towering achievement and Debicki may be one to watch as the nominations begin pouring.

Michelle Rodriguez proves that she’s more than the Furious franchise that shot her to stardom with her gutsy turn that plays to the character’s insecurities well, while Cynthia Erivo is a bolt of energy who benefits from being introduced later in the tale. Even coming in about an hour into the story, the writing affords her the development required and Erivo hits it out of the park. Don’t let that titular, possessive noun fool you: these women are every bit their own operators, defined and driven by a self-agency and determination, instead of the men that left them behind. Both the performances and the writing ensures that they all remain such well-rendered, dynamic individuals who find further strength working as a team.

Of the two main plot strands, the women’s plans and preparation are far more riveting than the political tussle. Populated with far more archetypal characters, the film’s ‘bad guys’ aren’t nearly as compelling as the rest though it’s not through lack of trying. Colin Farrell and Robert Duvall take on the mantle of reflecting various slimy political figures that we may recognise today, to solid, if on-the-nose effect; Brian Tyree Henry is suitably menacing as the hellbent political opponent but Daniel Kaluuya is utterly terrifying, with a murderous, spine-chilling glint in his eyes that makes up for the somewhat broad characterisation. Playing out in the background, this political strand does give the women’s plot additional weightiness – it just doesn’t quite work as usefully on its own.

In Conclusion: Widows

Widows may feel like old-school filmmaking but it is fantastically contemporary in its themes and refreshing with its female angle. The 130-minute runtime flashes by in a brilliantly-suspenseful blast of adrenaline that will take some beating amongst the genre’s further endeavours. Every single person, whether they are in front of the camera or behind it, works together to deliver a thrilling, satisfying and breathtaking experience that toys with the conventions of the genre while bringing enough depth and surprises of its own. It’s not perfect but it’s damn near.

Steve McQueen’s breakout in the multiplex serves him well, without ever, thankfully, dulling his artistic sensibilities; this barn-burning release puts him and his tremendous cast front and centre, with Viola Davis finally getting the complex feature-film leading role that she deserves. Given the pedigree cast and talents on display, Widows may be the Academy’s mainstream pick moving into award season. I really hope it is.

Which is your favourite ensemble cast of the past five years? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!

Widows was released in the UK on November 6, 2018 and will be released in the US on November 16, 2018. Further release dates can be found here.

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