Set in contemporary Chicago, amidst a time of turmoil, four women with nothing in common except a debt left behind by their dead husbands' criminal activities take fate into their own hands and con...
WHAT I LIKED: On a literal level, Steve McQueen and Gillian Flynn's 'Widows,' is a film about four women planning a heist after their criminal husbands get killed, but it's also a film about the constructs of power, deprivation and racial/genderal divide in a microcosmic Chicago - and that's where it undoubtedly succeeds most. Yes, what really charges this narrative isn't its plot, but rather a set of relevent social themes, as it's slowly revealed in the story that the whole deal that lead to the men getting killed in the first place involved a conflict between members of the white political elite and angry black individuals from the deprived community, and as these vastly different widowed women find themselves on the receiving end of threats from the involved parties, it then becomes about them fighting back. If that sounds like a lot of territory for one movie to tackle in one rather complicated way, you'd be right, but it does do a remarkable job of translating all of those themes because everything is portrayed in such a grounded way with such a handle on reality.
You really believe that Colin Farrell is the corrupt local politician playing a meaningless game, you really understand why Brian Tyree Henry's character is so angry, and you really get how down-trodden these women feel by the reliance they've automatically placed on their late husbands, and that's not only thanks to a whole host of convincing performances, but also because director Steve McQueen builds such an all-consuming surrounding environment. We see through sinical eyes every aspect of the streets of Chicago in a way that's almost comparable to Martin Scorsese's work with New York in Taxi Driver, and we see the attitudes of American Police in one terrifyingly poignant shooting scene, and all of that points to a director whose spent his career saying things visually and using that craft to expert effect.
But it's not just a film with lots to say, as - very much like Flynn's Gone Girl - it's also one that has fun with its concept with bags of snappy dialogue and genius individual moments - particularly those involving Daniel Kaluuya's badass henchman character who brings some Coen Brothers-level dark whit to the table. Couple that with some powerful central character work from Viola Davis who brings you into the whole thing on a more human level, and what you get is a film with a lot to say and a punchy and clever way of saying it.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: It is indeed a film with a lot to say, but the issue with it is that the plot that strings all of it together is actually rather weak and confusing, as some character motivations are a little muddled, and the reveals often undermine certain aspects of the narrative. That's partly down to the nature of Flynn's script which definitely puts that stuff in the background a little, but you equally can't help feeling that the twists and motivations would have come across a little clearer if they were dealt by a director more confident with plot than statement or visual exploration.
VERDICT: Steve McQueen and Gillian Flynn's 'Widows,' is an ambitious film with an awful lot of important things to discuss and a very punchy way of doing it, but the twisty plot that strings everything together definitely has its flaws.
