"Widows" Review: A Fascinating Mix Of "The Dark Knight" And "Ocean's 8" In The Hands Of Steve McQueen

Bindhiya Nhi |Jan 22, 2019

Steve McQueen Cast is back with Widows and ready to expose the darkest side of American with the help of Viola Davis' performance.

Widows
Director: Steve McQueen
Cast: Michelle Rodriguez, Viola Davis, Cynthia Erivo, Elizabeth Debicki, Bryan Tyree Henry, Colin Farrell, Jon Bernthal, Daniel Kaluuya, Liam Neeson
Rating: 4/5

After Shame (2011) and 12 Years a Slave (2013), the Academy Award-winning director Steve McQueen is back with another movie to expose the darkest sides of Americans. This time is a thrilling follow-up of 12 Years a Slave, Widows. The film is about heists, but maybe the social message behind the story is even more engaging.

In collaboration with Gone Girl script-writer Gillian Flynn, Steve McQueen had done this project as if this was his debut movie in the industry. This is not a negative comment but rather than a positive one, considering how passionate the director was when he was trying to convey his messages throughout the movie. It seems like McQueen thought that Widows was his one-of-a-kind opportunity, one that might never come back again if he missed it, and therefore he put plenty of effort into it.

Widows

From the very first scene of Widows, it has already described a realistic Chicago together with its social groups of people in a vivid way. Harry Rawlings (Liam Neeson) is killed along with his crew of robbers during a botched robbery. His widow Veronica Rawlings (Viola Davis) is left behind with his mess and a threat from crime boss Jamal Manning (Brian Tyree Henry). She has no choice but to follow a plan to pay a massive debt of $2 million.

Veronica later found out a notebook of her husband with a detailed plan for a heist which she could rob $5 million. She then gathers all widows from the members of her husband's crew and decides to go ahead with that plan. It does sound silly, yet Steve McQueen can still portrait the characters using his unique sensibilities. The movie focuses on real social issues, but the director also put in the inherent goofiness to attract the viewers. This makes Widows much alike in style with the melodrama of Heat than the blank storyline of a heist in Ocean's 8.

Oscar-nominated documentaries director Steve James already made a movie The Interrupters (2011) with the same topic. The documentary told the story of several Chicagoans who used to stand hardships of gang violence and later stood up to prevent other people from going into the same wrong path.

Widow

Viola Davis and Liam Neeson in a scene of Widows

Widows has it all in one: From the police corruption to the racial tensions happen right in the place famous for its American Dream. McQueen must be a superb director finding his own way to make sure that all these elements would be present in the movie. Viola Davis tends to be extremely passionate about her role, and still there are some scenes that her distinct snot appears, but eventually, she still does a good job. One has to admit that she has an immense presence in Widows and somehow gives out a feeling of American Gangster's Denzel Washington.

One of the most brilliant ideas from Widows is that the movie has some connections to The Dark Knight. The accent of Jack Mulligan (Colin Farrell) surely reminds you of Heath Ledger, and the scrupulous cinematography of Sean Bobbitt also bring you back to the classical scenes of Christopher Nolan’s masterpiece.

The movie is not all about the gritty aspect, it also has that Steve McQueen's kind of warmth. His films are about the people who have to suffer a worse fate at the hands of their enemy and live for a possibility of escape. Those movies are harsh, cruel and full of unfair twists, but when we take a closer look, McQueen's films also focus on redemption. Widows is not an exception, it may appear to be dressed for a funeral, but peel back the layers and more shall be revealed.

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