Widows

Widows will hold you hostage. There is no looking away, there is no asking for mercy or respite, or wondering if a lull in the story will present itself so you can nip out for a pee.

The wives of ex(as in expired)-cons decide to take their lives into their own hands in this explosive, trailblazing epic that shows the resilience of four women in a world that thinks them incapable of anything. Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl, Sharp Objects) reassembles Lynda La Plante’s 1987 miniseries in a modern-day Chicago rife with rotten politicians, racial divides and social fractures. What we get is a gritty, terse two hours of storytelling where exchanges in a hair salon or at a car auction are just as integral to the plot as the gun fights. Finally, we get a thriller that understands, just as classics like The Long Good Friday and The Godfather did, that without sharp and powerful dialogue, the violence means nothing.

Director Steve McQueen (Hunger, 12 Years A Slave) has compromised none of his signature unflinching artsy style, but whilst Widows wrenches apart most crime conventions with a crowbar, the movie does still occasionally get caught in the Hollywood beartrap of wish-fulfilment and neat resolutions. That said, the odd grating of cheesy James Bond motifs provide much-needed relief from the hard knocks taken by the characters and hard truths thrown at the audience.

The film riffs on the themes of legacy and autonomy and the decisions people make when faced with the chance to slip the straitjacket of history. In Widows, most characters live a life cast in someone else’s shadow. Politician Jack Mulligan (Colin Farrell) squirms to free himself from his father (Robert Duvall)’s crooked political empire, whilst teachers’ union rep Veronica (Viola Davis), devastated by the death of her criminal husband (Liam Neeson), discovers that her entire life was on loan - from apartment to social status – through marrying into a white family. This is a story about people trying to clamber out of the moulds they have been prescribed to and staking their claim in an unforgiving world. Here we have a story that is as far away from Oceans 8 as it’s possible to get, something that has the balls (if you’ll pardon the phrasing) to explore both the big issues and the minute details in a dark and exquisite tapestry.

Davis is jaw-to-the-floor sensational, making Neeson’s performance - one his career’s best - look like a drama graduate’s first audition by comparison. She might also be the only person to successfully deliver a chilling monologue whilst holding a white terrier. Daniel Kaluuya is shivers-down-your-spine psychopathic as mobster Jatemme Manning. His days as Rowan Atkinson’s sidekick in Johnny English Reborn are well and truly behind him, with his roles in Get Out and Widows cemented his place in the major league. What McQueen is unparalleled at is taking a scalpel to his characters and letting us under their skin. From the vile sadist to the conflicted underdog, each has a modus operandi that you can relate to right up until the moment when you are torn from their lives and volleyed into another character’s narrative in a cruel game of empathetic ping pong.

This is a heist film in the same way as 12 Years can be branded a historical epic. Whilst both labels are true, neither scratches the surface and what you will find above all else are flawed and conflicted characters and fearless storytelling that takes no prisoners. Look inside and you will find more tangles of race, gender and class conflicts than even the most ambitious of television networks can muster. Don’t sweat it though, you’ll still get bags of explosions, jeopardy, stolen millions, Tupperware full of compost (you’ll see) and shoot-outs, but the difference between Widows and, dare I say it, every heist flick that came before it, is that it packs the emotional punch of a 9-magnitude earthquake.

9/10