Widows (2018)

Widows is what an action movie should be. A movie with thrilling action set pieces. A plot that doesn't telegraph everything coming around the corner and offers surprises along the way. A strong cast who bring their A-game. A gorgeous spectacle that is a thrill to watch.Every now and then a film comes along that makes me go "man this is why I go to the movies." Widows is all this and more.

Steve McQueen is one of my favourite working directors. He directed one of my favourite films of all time (Shame). He directed a very deserving Best Picture winner (12 Years a Slave). And now he has brought us a pulse pounding, emotionally wrecking, action movie that pulls no punches. His pacing, his attention to detail, the way he sets his characters into motion and into conflict, it is all masterfully done. Widows grabs you from the beginning and doesn't let go. It also doesn't oversimplify anything. The movie ends without giving any easy answers or moral clarity. Widows is a thinking person's action movie. This isn't escapism. It is damn fine film making.

McQueen's colour palette is gorgeous. I kept falling in love with each scene, soaking in the beauty he set his rather dark tale in. A movie is both a story to tell and something to watch and McQueen knows this giving us richness in both. It helps that he cast the amazing Viola Davis in the lead. So much of what makes Widows so watchable is the way he lets us focus on her remarkable presence. He films her, centres her, in a way that allows us to soak in her beauty and strength. And she lives up to the task, as she always does. She fulfills the role of Veronica, one of the most complex and riveting characters in any action movie in a long time. The entire cast is strong but this if Davis' movie and she rocks it. Also knocking one out of the park is Daniel Kaluuya, playing a villain in the most satisfying way. Both seductively evil and terrifyingly evil, his Jatemme is a classic and wholly original.

McQueen and his cast don't set this story in a sterile, neutral world. Widows, while first and foremost a heist film, confronts full on issues of gender and race. This is some of the best social commentary I have seen in a mainstream film in a long time. It's not thrown in our faces but laced intricately throughout. This is a world ruined by male greed and patriarchy coloured by the interplay with white supremacy. McQueen balances this all so pitch perfectly that Widows becomes something more, something profound.

Widows is the kind of movie that will remind you why you love movies.

Widows
Starring: Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki, Cynthia Erivo, Daniel Kaluuya, Colin Farrell, Brian Tyree Henry, Liam Neeson, Jacki Weaver, Robert Duvall,  Gerret Dillahunt, Manuel Garcia Rulfo, Jon Bernthal, Lukas Haas
Director: Steve McQueen
Writers: Gillian Flynn, Steve McQueen