2018 Directed by Steve McQueen
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 conspire to forge a future on their own terms.
Viola Davis Michelle Rodriguez Elizabeth Debicki Cynthia Erivo Colin Farrell Brian Tyree Henry Daniel Kaluuya Jacki Weaver Carrie Coon Robert Duvall Liam Neeson Manuel Garcia-Rulfo Jon Bernthal Garret Dillahunt Michael Harney Lukas Haas Matt Walsh Adepero Oduye Ann Mitchell Kevin J. O'Connor Molly Kunz Coburn Goss Clare Cooney James Vincent Meredith Eric C. Lynch Will Zahrn Stephen Hill Deron J. Powell Keith Kupferer Show All…
four things you need to know about this movie:
1. it completely and utterly rules from start to finish, and is *so* smart about everything from capitalism to camera placement.
2. Viola Davis carries around an adorable Westie for virtually the entire film.
3. Elizabeth Debicki's performance inspired me to say the word "stan" out loud for the first time in my entire stupid life.
4. anyone with cable will watch this on TV no less than 300 times in the next two years.
Yes. Papa likes this one quite a bit. Papa loves a perfect third act. Papa loves a perfect cast with perfect performances. Papa loves a good twist. Papa loves good camerawork and editing. Papa loves watching Chicago films in Chicago. Most importantly, papa loves his DANIEL KALUUYA OH MY GOD HE WAS SO GOOD.
I don’t know why I went with the uncomfortable “papa” thing, it has nothing to do with the film. But yeah, good movie.
someone: h-
me: CAN SOMEONE HAND DANIEL KALUUYA A FUCKING OSCAR STRAIGHT AWAY LIKE THROW IT AT HIS HAND NOW PLEASE WITH LOTS OF FORCE SORT OF LIKE YEET
this movie is a beautiful magic trick. everything about it screams “boilerplate bargain bin thriller,” but the performances are so captivating and the writing is so focused that it manages to feel... like a prestige movie? pun not intended. even with an undercooked b-story, it’s very smart, surprisingly funny, cynical, and perfectly structured. ya done it again, stevie micks!!
everybody in this movie is very good, but... got damn... daniel fuckin’ kaluuya!!!! viola fuckin’ davis!!!! cynthia fuckin’ erivo!!!! a preemptive “fuck the academy” for ALL y’alls oscar snubs!!!
“'Cause no one thinks we have the balls to pull this off”.
*gasp* It’s impossible to hear this line without having your soul parted from your body. Screaming, roaring engines of a botched robbery attempt as chaos is intertwining with familial tenderness. Scorching hot asphalt, explosions, burned rubber fills the air right from the get go. It’s a story about women who are misjudged, undervalued by their lovers, loved ones going up against the world using their own gender as weapons with total fierceness and determination. There is zero glitz and glitter in this heist game; no artificial glamorization nor depiction of any action-esque escapism but alternatively, Widows offers something subversively melancholic, a proper hard-boiled stake with gritty, grounded thrills…
Widows is a perfect example of how important a strong directive vision is to movies. It could have been a disposable crime thriller with great acting and some moments that made me gasp out loud.
But it's how Steve McQueen finds small moments to make Widows more than its script.
The opening contrasts the heist going wrong with beautiful moments of intamacy.
One great long take as a car goes through the city and highlights the two halves.
It turns out that Hans Zimmer did the score... I don't remember a score being present through most of the film until the "widows" carry out their heist.
The editing is great when it comes to the flashbacks and you can feel…
Hell yeah. Steve McQueen made a really cool action/heist film that doesn’t alienate the art film snobs that have followed his career from the beginning. Can’t wait to watch it again already.
"What I've learned from men like my father and your husband is that you reap what you sow."
Happy this has settled now. I've been thinking Widows all day, and I've gotta say it's warming up to me. And I'm not just saying this cause I don't wanna be the one guy that didn't like it. I legitimately think this was a really great movie.
I wanna start with the characters. After seeing this in the theater, I found half the characters in the film pointless and unnecessary. I still feel that about a few, but all together the ensemble cast is very well balanced and written. Kaluuya and Davis are easily the standouts performances, but Colin Farrell was one…
A movie with a LOT on its mind. Every performance was fantastic especially Davis and Kaluuya. McQueen and Flynn have created a singular vision of urban life with all of its corruption. At the center we have the determined strength of women. And that final moment, a small thesis against the cold brutality committed by men that has filled most of the running time.
I really liked Widows. This is my first ever Steve McQueen movie and I’m already sold on the guy. The direction was fantastic, the story had me hooked from start to finish, the action scenes were intense, the performances from everyone were great, and the cinematography by Sean Bobbitt was out of this world and there are several shots that I am still thinking about. With all of that said, the story felt way too familiar. Like I’ve definitely seen this before but it was still really good. And that’s my only real gripe with Widows. The story has its cliches, but damn it’s still a hard hitting white knuckles thriller at its core. Definitely find the time to see this flick.
adrianbalboa 41 films
category predictions in the notes- not what i think is gonna win or even necessarily get nominated, but what's realistic…
MasterLundegaard 37 films
squint and some of them will look almost identical right next to each other.
Jack Moulton 50 films
To be updated weekly on Sundays. It's ranked by avg l.b. user rating, extracted from here.
Excludes shorts and TV/music.…
