Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Viola Davis, Liam Neeson, Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debecki, Carrie Coon, Cynthia Erivo, Colin Farrell, James Vincent Meredith, Brian Tyree Henry, Daniel Kaluuya, Robert Duvall, John Bernthal, Manuel Garcia-Ruflo, Coburn Goss, Ann Mitchell, Jacki Weaver, Garret Dillahunt, Jon Michael Hill.
A new generation, a new audience, one that gets transplanted out of 1980s Britain and into the heart of 21st Century Chicago politics and undercurrent of American crime, Widows might not have been one that its enormous fanbase might have ever thought needed updating but it is one that works, that makes the absolute use of the grime and seemingly untouchable attitude of modern politics and its strange bedfellow of corruption, criminality and violence.
Steve McQueen’s and Gillian Flynn’s updated screenplay of Lynda La Plante’s insightful story of how women are often left in lurch by husbands and partners who see theft and crime as a habitual way of life is compelling, forceful, as simple as constructing a building, making detailed plans for a family holiday, and how they deal with the aftermath, how the widows are often more adept when pushed into a corner and threatened with their lives, of being as dangerous, as willing to walk down a road which is fraught with transgression as any man alive.
Politics and crime, natural bedfellows, loving partners, it is a story carried off with dedication and awareness of the way society double crosses those who seek to weigh down the scales of justice in their favour, and in particular those who seek to maintain their standard of living when their partner has deserted them.
Ultimately it is about power, the abuse of dominance, and in Viola Davis’ portrayal of Veronica Rawlings, Elizabeth Debecki’s Alice, Colin Farrell’s conflicted politician Jack Mulligan and the sensational Daniel Kaluuya continuing his phenomenal rise as one of the go-to actors of his generation, power is a game that provides and doles out death on a whim and in vengeance. Power and the pursuit of control, of rule and command is one that comes with muscle, one that criminality is attracted to and cannot but help get into bed with. Power is corrupt, it takes a genius to use it without falling into its clutches.
Widows may have needed updating, but in many respects, it probably never thought it would get such attention as it has in this Steve McQueen remake.
Ian D. Hall