To call Widows a heist film is reductive. It revolves around a heist, but that doesn't do the film justice.
Veronica Rawlings, played by Viola Davis, has an adoring husband and seemingly loving marriage. Her husband, Harry (Liam Neeson), is also a successful criminal, but when a job goes bad and he along with his entire crew are killed, a large number of puzzle pieces fall into the laps of those left behind. Interconnected are the people Harry stole from and those he stole for. Robert Duvall and Colin Farrell play the aging patriarch and future of the Chicago political dynasty Mulligan family, running a race against a man looking to legitimize his successful career in illegal activities by transitioning to politics Jamal Manning (Brian Tyree Henry), aided by his brother/muscle played by Daniel Kaluuya. After Harry's body burns up with the $2 million he stole from Manning (Henry), crippling the prospects for his campaign for office, the burden of the debt falls on Veronica. Veronica turns to the three other widows of her husband's former crew to try and flip the tables on those who would bury them to maintain their privilege. So they decide to pull a heist of their own...
The script was co-written by Gillian Flynn, author of...
and then of course penning adaptations of Gone Girl for the big screen, and Sharp Objects as a prestige mini-series for HBO.
Also co-written and directed by Steve McQueen, director of 2014 Academy Award Winner for Best Picture, 12 Years a Slave, this pedigree behind the camera attracted an embarrassment of riches in the cast assembled,
Viola Davis, Liam Neeson, Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki, Cynthia Erivo, Daniel Kaluuya, Colin Farrell, Robert Duvall, Carrie Coon, Jackie Weaver, Jon Bernthal, Bryan Tyree Henry
Bottom line,
Steve McQueen is one of the boldest voices in cinema. The cinematography is daring. This film deals with themes of political corruption, racial and social inequality and justice, empowerment, and has some absolutely gut-wrenching emotional moments, between a father and his son, between a wife and her husband...
it has been lodged in my mind.
And Daniel Kaluuya also gives a creepy, terrifying, cool, amazing and memorable turn as the enforcer for his politically aspiring brother.