Widows Review
7.5 / 10. An enjoyable and well-paced heist thriller with a great cast and strong lead from Viola Davis *MINOR SPOILER*
Widows is an exciting heist thriller film directed by Steve McQueen from a screenplay by Gillian Flynn and McQueen. It is based on the 1983 book Widows by Lynda La Plante, which was already made into mini-series in 1983 – 85. Her books and TV adaptations are great (Prime Suspect, The Take), and this is a great, updated version of the story.
Four armed robbers are left dead following a police shoot out and get away van explosion at a botched robbery in Chicago. Their widows; Veronica, Linda, Alice and Belle, then unfortunately inherit the debt left behind by their criminal husbands. Veronica sets out to mastermind a dangerous heist that her husband had been planning and recruits the other widows to assist, to rid them of their debt and set them up for a rich future.
Widows is an enjoyable and well-paced heist thriller with a great cast.
Viola Davis is amazing as always (How to Get Away with Murder, Fences). She holds the lead role with grit and elegance and is a strong leader for the unlikely group of robbers. She showcases the range of emotions she experiences in her grief after her husband’s sudden and shocking death perfectly (Minor spoiler, but it is called Widows).
I really liked the evolution of Elizabeth Debicki’s character Alice, and how she grew throughout the film in character and confidence. Belle is a force to be reckoned with, portrayed by the excellent Cynthia Erivo.
Colin Farrell’s Jack Mulligan was very sleazy, a type of role he plays well. Jatemme (Daniel Kaluuya) was a very subtle, quietly disturbing character. Robert Duvall is great in a small but important role as Jack’s father Tom and glad to see Garret Dillahunt here as Bash, I love his versatility.
The ensemble of widows worked well together with different strengths, however, I did find it strange they wouldn’t have met before at all if their husbands worked together, illegally so, but still.
It’s a different take on a heist film to the usual that I’ve seen. The build-up is interesting, it is at times amusing and not straight forward or predictable.
I also loved Olivia, Veronica’s West Highland Terrier, she was a cute scene stealer.