Widows

Viola Davis leads as a widow who discovers the plans for her late criminal husband’s (Liam Neeson) next job, and leads a group of women (Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki, and Brit Cynthia Erivo) who collectively decide to pull off the heist themselves, brought together by their dead husband’s activities. As they try to define themselves beyond their former lives with their husbands, they navigate the barriers of race, politics, gender and class; will they deliver the impossible?

From the director of 12 Years a Slave comes a gritty, thrilling and dark story of survival and suspense set in Chicago. The film proves the obvious: that strong, good roles for women, roles with depth, make a fundamental difference. With raw survival at stake, this is a story of women helping other women, getting back ownership of their lives, and taking their agency into their own hands.

Also delivering powerful performances are Colin Farell, Liam Neeson and Get Out’s Daniel Kaluuya, as the enigmatic villain.

Suspenseful, emotional and real from beginning to end, this is a film that gets female leads right, and it has arrived at just the right time. Take note Ocean's 8, this is how you take a Grade-A heist film, and make it about women.

Naz Ozkan