Movie Review—Widows

Theatrical release poster

by Peter J. O'Connell  

Widows. Released: Nov. 2018. Runtime: 129 mins. MPAA Rating: R for violence, language throughout, and some sexual content/nudity.

Widows, directed and co-written by Britain's Steve McQueen, has a scope and scale that few crime films since Michael Mann's classic Heat (1995) have had. As Widows unspools the planning and execution of an elaborate heist, it weaves in issues of sexuality, gender roles, race relations, political change, and police behavior.

The movie begins in Chicago when a spectacular robbery is spectacularly botched, and Harry Rawlings (Liam Neeson), a renowned thief, is reported killed, alongside his partners Carlos (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), Florek (Jon Bernthal), and Jimmy (Coburn Goss). The crooks' widows are, respectively: Veronica (Viola Davis), a teachers' union official; Linda (Michelle Rodriguez), a clothing store owner; Alice (Elizabeth Debicki), a “bimbo”; and Amanda (Carrie Coon), mother of a newborn baby.

The women are, in varying degrees, emotionally bereft—particularly Veronica, as revealed in her tender flashbacks to her life with Harry—but they are also in tough financial straits because of debts. The most pressing debt is $2 million belonging to crime boss Jamal Manning (Brian Tyeree Henry), lost in the botched robbery. Manning, an African-American, planned to use the money to finance his campaign for Chicago alderman against Jack Mulligan (Colin Farrell), son of retiring white incumbent Tom Mulligan (Robert Duvall).

Manning wants the widows to make up his lost money—and fast. He makes his wishes manifest by the actions of his brother, Jatemme (Daniel Kaluuya), who carries out various beatings and killings. Jatemme, for example, brutalizes a man in a wheelchair—perhaps a nod to a notorious scene in a 1940s film noir in which Richard Widmark's character shoves an old lady down a flight of stairs, while he laughs.  

Veronica discovers a notebook of Harry's with a detailed plan for a heist worth $5 million. She recruits Linda and Alice to assist her, first in finding out what the actual location of the $5 million is and then in carrying out the plan. Because the Mannings have killed one potential driver, Veronica gets Belle (Cynthia Erivo), Linda's babysitter, to act as their driver.

The heist that the widows will carry out is not a “caper” a la Ocean's Eight, for example, carried out basically for fun. The widows are desperate, and their survival is at stake. But the heist is also an exercise in female empowerment. As Veronica tells her gang: “Now the best thing we have going for us is being who we are.” When Alice asks why, Veronica replies: “Because no one thinks we have the balls to pull this off.”

While the women plot, the Mulligans, father and son, argue. In high dyspeptic dudgeon, Tom denounces his son for being too accepting of the changes in Chicago that are giving power to minorities and migrants over the old guard. And Sgt. Fuller (Michael Harney), a corrupt cop, helps carry out a conspiracy. 

Eventually, the widows' plot goes into operation, with much violence and many surprises for the characters—and the audience. But McQueen handles the twists and turns of the plot adroitly—both the tropes of crime films, such as car chases and gunplay, and such complex topics as sexism, police brutality, and interracial marriage (Veronica and Harry). 

The performances are notable. Davis is both strong and sensitive. Kaluuya does a 180-degree turn from his doe-eyed nice guy in Get Out (2017). Duvall is the way we like to see him—in high dyspeptic dudgeon. And Debicki steals many scenes while in the plot to steal much money. See Widows. The women in it have . . . well, Veronica can tell you!