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From the moment Gina Prince-Bythewood became a director, her strength has always resided in her commitment to love stories. In her films, sumptuous twilight passions happen on a basketball court, they occur between generations, on the ladder rungs of show business, and between immortals. They center Black women carrying power and interiority, while finding strength within themselves, and often, other Black women. With her Netflix produced film, “ The Old Guard ,” she continued those themes on a grander scale. But nothing in her filmography can wholly prepare you for the lushness of her latest work. 

In going into “The Woman King,” a big-hearted action-epic whose major challenge is being sincere and historical while fulfilling its blockbuster requirements, you might feel some hesitation. Especially in a cinematic landscape that prizes broad statements on race over sturdy storytelling. You might wonder how Prince-Bythewood can shape a tale centering the Agojie warriors—an all-woman group of soldiers sworn to honor and sisterhood—hailing from the West African kingdom of Dahomey, when one considers their hand in perpetuating the transatlantic slave trade. It’s a towering task approached by Prince-Bythewood and screenwriter Dana Stevens with gentle sensitivity, and a fierce desire to show Black women as the charters of their own destiny. 

The film begins with flair: A group of men lounge at the center of a field by a campfire. They hear rustling in the tallgrass; they see a flock of birds fly away on a breeze. Suddenly a menacing Viola Davis playing Nanisca, the world-weary Agojie general, emerges from the grass armed with a machete. An entire platoon then appears behind her. The ensuing slaughter of the men (the women in the village are left unharmed), is soaked in delirious gore, and is part of this warrior ensemble’s mission to free their imprisoned kin. Nanisca, however, loses so many comrades in the process that she decides to train a new batch of recruits. 

After the thrilling opening battle scene, the plot to “The Woman King” can feel convoluted. But its excesses serve the film’s blockbuster goals. A defiant teenager, Nawi ( Thuso Mbedu ), is offered up as a gift to the young King Ghezo ( John Boyega ) by her domineering father, who is frustrated with his obstinate daughter’s refusal to marry her many suitors. Nawi, however, never makes it to the King, as the unflinching yet fun warrior Izogie (a phenomenal Lashana Lynch ), sees Nawi’s resistance as a strength, and enlists her in Nanisca’s training. Being part of the Agojie promises freedom to all involved, but not to those they conquer. The defeated are offered as tribute to the draconian Oyo Empire, who then deal their fellow Africans as slaves to Europeans in exchange for guns. It’s a circle of oppression that the guilt-ridden Nanisca wants the King to break. In the meantime, a dream has haunted Nanisca, and the disobedient Nawa, who struggles with upholding some of Agojie clan’s strict requirements, particularly the "No Men" part. It might be the key to what ails her.       

Despite these clunky narrative beats—there’s a twist halfway through that nearly causes the story to fall apart—the sheer pleasure of “The Woman King” resides in the bond shared by these Black women. They are the film’s love story as they commit to each other as much as they do to their grueling training. Vast compositions of Black women caring and nurturing each other proliferate “The Woman King,” and the rituals and songs they share adds further layers to their deep devotion. 

Prince-Bythewood isn’t afraid to rely on emotional heft in an action movie. Every actor in this deep ensemble is granted their own space; they're organically challenged but never artificially wielded as a teaching tool for white audiences. Sheila Atim , who along with Mbedu turned in a stellar performance in Barry Jenkins ’ “ The Underground Railroad ,” is measured, aware, and giving as Nanisca’s trusted second-in-command Amenza. Boyega is commanding yet beguiling as a king projecting confidence while still learning what it means to lead (many of his line readers are instantly quotable). 

“The Woman King,” however, is quite messy. The overuse of VFX for landscapes, fake extras, and fire often flattens the compositions by cinematographer Polly Morgan ; she finds greater latitude in capturing the bruising yet precise fight choreography. And the low-simmering romance that emerges between Nawa and Malik, a ripped Portuguese-Dahomen fantasy ( Jordan Bolger ) returning to discover his roots, while clear in its intent to test Nawa’s dedication to her sisters, is unintentionally comical in its awkwardness. The script far too often also tries to neatly tie together these characters, especially Nawi and Nanisca. 

But when “The Woman King” works, it’s majestic. The tactile costumes by Gersha Phillips ("Star Trek Discovery") and the detailed production design by Akin McKenzie (“Wild Life” and “ When They See Us ”) feel lived in and vibrant, especially in the vital rendering of the Dahomey Kingdom, which is teeming with scenes of color and community. Terilyn A. Shropshire ’s slick, intelligent editing allows this grand epic to breathe. And the evocative score by Terence Blanchard and Lebo M. gives voice to the Agojie’s fighting spirit. 

Though Davis is the movie’s obvious star, turning in an aching and psychically demanding performance that’s matched pound for pound with her interiority, Mbedu reaffirms herself as a star too. She gives herself over to the tale of a woman who so desires to be heard that she never backs down to anyone. A glimmer follows Mbedu in her every line read, and gloom follows her in devastation. There’s one scene where she cries over the body of a fallen warrior and lets out a wail with an impact that travels from your toes to your spleen. 

The subplots in “The Woman King” might undo it for some. But the magnitude and the awe this movie inspires are what epics like “ Gladiator ” and “ Braveheart ” are all about. They’re meant for your heart to override your brain, to pull you toward a rousing splendor, to put a lump in your throat. In between the large, sprawling battles of "The Woman King," and in between the desire to not yield to white outside forces and the urge to topple oppressive and racist systems, the guide is sisterly love, Black love. Thrilling and enrapturing, emotionally beautiful and spiritually buoyant, “The Woman King” isn’t just an uplifting battle cry. It’s the movie Prince-Bythewood has been building toward throughout her entire career. And she doesn’t miss.  

This review was filed from the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10th. "The Woman King" opens on September 16th.

Robert Daniels

Robert Daniels is an Associate Editor at RogerEbert.com. Based in Chicago, he is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association (CFCA) and Critics Choice Association (CCA) and regularly contributes to the  New York Times ,  IndieWire , and  Screen Daily . He has covered film festivals ranging from Cannes to Sundance to Toronto. He has also written for the Criterion Collection, the  Los Angeles Times , and  Rolling Stone  about Black American pop culture and issues of representation.

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Film Credits

The Woman King (2022)

Rated PG-13 for sequences of strong violence, some disturbing material, thematic content, brief language and partial nudity.

135 minutes

Viola Davis as Nanisca

Thuso Mbedu as Nawi

Lashana Lynch as Izogie

Sheila Atim as Amenza

John Boyega as King Ghezo

Hero Fiennes Tiffin as Santo Ferreira

Jayme Lawson

• Gina Prince-Bythewood

Writer (story by)

• Maria Bello
• Dana Stevens

Cinematographer

• Polly Morgan
• Terilyn A. Shropshire
• Terence Blanchard

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Movie Reviews

Viola davis is 'the woman king' in an epic story inspired by true events.

Justin Chang

Nanisca (Viola Davis) wields a sword and hacks her way through the many men who get in her way in The Woman King. Ilze Kitshoff/CTMG hide caption

Nanisca (Viola Davis) wields a sword and hacks her way through the many men who get in her way in The Woman King.

One of the more heartening Hollywood comeback stories in recent years has been the return of the director Gina Prince-Bythewood with movies like The Old Guard and now The Woman King . It had been a long wait for many of us who adored her earlier films like Love & Basketball and Beyond the Lights . As Prince-Bythewood has said in interviews, her focus on women protagonists, especially Black women protagonists, had made it hard over the years to get her projects off the ground. Fortunately, the industry is changing, and it's finally come around to recognizing her talent.

Her latest movie, The Woman King, is her most ambitious project yet, a rousingly old-fashioned action-drama, drawn from true events, about women warriors in 19th-century West Africa. The movie originated with the actor Maria Bello , who produced it and wrote the story with the film's screenwriter, Dana Stevens. It opens in 1823 in the kingdom of Dahomey, located in what is now Benin. For several centuries, this kingdom was defended by an army of women fighters called the Agojie.

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In the movie, the Agojie are led by the powerful General Nanisca, played by a galvanizing Viola Davis . She isn't the ruler of this kingdom — that would be the king, played by John Boyega — but given the movie's title, you suspect it's only a matter of time. The Agojie warriors are fighting the male soldiers of the Oyo Empire, who've been attacking Dahomey villages. To build up her army, Nanisca brings in a new batch of female recruits, among them an impetuous teenager named Nawi, played by Thuso Mbedu, the terrific South African star of last year's The Underground Railroad .

Much of the script centers on the growing bond — and the growing tension — between Nanisca and Nawi. As the leader of the Agojie, Nanisca insists that all her warriors follow a strict code that includes lifelong celibacy. Nawi chafes at that restriction, and her independent-mindedness often clashes with the Agojie's values of discipline and self-sacrifice. But by the end, Nawi absorbs those values and becomes a courageous fighter, honing her skills through many exciting scenes of training and competition.

The Woman King was shot on location in South Africa, and its re-creation of the Dahomey villages is so immersive — the costumes, designed by Gersha Phillips, are especially gorgeous — that it just about carries you past some of the messiness of the storytelling. To its credit, the script addresses some of the historical complexities of the situation, including the fact that Dahomey became a rich kingdom by participating in the trans-Atlantic slave trade — a practice that Nanisca wants to end. She also has a personal score to settle with the Oyo warriors, and The Woman King is sometimes a little unsteady in its mix of political plotting and emotional drama. A romantic subplot involving Nawi and a hunky European explorer feels especially tacked-on.

Nanisca may not be the most complex character Davis has played, but it's thrilling to see her take on her first major action showcase as she dons battle gear, wields a sword and hacks her way through the many, many men who get in her way. And she isn't the only one: My favorite performance in the movie comes from Lashana Lynch as Izogie, a top warrior who takes young Nawi under her wing. You might have seen Lynch squaring off with Daniel Craig's James Bond in No Time to Die , and here she manages to be funny, heartbreaking and fierce.

Prince-Bythewood has conceived The Woman King in the grand-scale tradition of epics like Braveheart and Gladiator , this time with women leading the charge. While the action doesn't rise to the same visceral intensity as in those films, it makes for an engrossing and sometimes exhilarating history lesson. I left the theater thinking about how an old civilization recognized the strength of what women could do — and how it's taken the empire of Hollywood so long to do the same.

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The Woman King Reviews

The Woman King achieves cinematic royalty with its extremely skillful, well-crafted, and purposeful picture that tells a narrative of empowerment and humanity. It’s well-crafted from start to finish, with Davis shining in the starring role.

Full Review | Sep 26, 2023

writer Dana Stevens, story contributor Maria Bello – more known for her acting (“A History of Violence”) – and Prince-Bythewood continue an emerging cinematic trend of alternate, redemptive histories that bend toward utopianism

Full Review | Aug 16, 2023

Davis elevates this standard story with the emotion and dire she brings to her performance.

Full Review | Original Score: A- | Aug 9, 2023

For viewers who choose to focus on the adrenaline rush of the feminist warriors ready to challenge the patriarchy, The Woman King proudly wears its crown.

Full Review | Jul 27, 2023

Thuso Mbedu delivers one of the best feature film debut performances I've ever witnessed. The anti-slavery, anti-racism and equal human rights messages are well conveyed, but the authentic, emotionally resonant character dynamics stand out.

Full Review | Original Score: A- | Jul 25, 2023

While this is undoubtedly Viola Davis at her finest, the movie's breakout star is Thuso Mbedu as Nawi. It may be called The Woman King, but it's Mbedu that steals the spotlight in every frame.

Full Review | Jul 25, 2023

An instant classic, Viola Davis slays as always. Lashana Lynch is incredible, Sheila Atim is amazing, & Thuso Mbedu steals the show as the heart/soul of the entire film! Blythewood created an epic that we don’t see anymore from Hollywood.

Despite stumbles in terms of plot and pacing, The Woman King is a thrilling watch. This story, these women, and the film’s heart deserve to be seen on the biggest screen possible with an audience ready to go along for a wild ride.

Full Review | Jul 24, 2023

The movie fails to fulfil its potential except as a military action epic.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | May 17, 2023

A dazzler from Terence Blanchard’s symphonic score to Polly Morgan’s eye pleasing cinematography. Acting is A-1, particularly by Davis and Mbedu.

Full Review | Original Score: A | Apr 25, 2023

Viola Davis is a force unleashed, heading up a full-blooded tale of conflict set against the backdrop of the slave trade that offers both a twist on the traditional male-dominated warrior-epic and a look at a part of history Hollywood typically ignores

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Mar 27, 2023

Its the emotional sparring between the women - as fierce as anything on the battle ground - that really holds the attention

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Mar 17, 2023

If it had been a story about white people, it would have been a snore. But we have rarely, if ever, seen a movie quite like this one about powerful Black women, and the energy onscreen is infectious.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 13, 2023

…goes all in as a popular entertainment, rolling back the male-dominance of the action genre and replacing it with something smart, dynamic and female driven…

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 19, 2023

As these women take their place in the kingdom of Dahomey and assert their power, The Woman King truly takes on new meaning, and finds relevance in the modern era.

Full Review | Original Score: A- | Feb 10, 2023

The film is shot impeccably well, scored passionately, and gives the viewer something to savor as they leave the theater.

Full Review | Original Score: A- | Feb 8, 2023

It's not a perfect film but acting-wise - this is a masterclass. Pacing was tight and effective despite lacking in some character development. This is a really good film.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 5, 2023

The performances, action scenes and cinematography were fantastic. I think the representation of bad ass black women was incredible.

Pacing issues and historical inaccuracies aside, The Woman King has great action and moving characters brought to life by a fantastic ensemble cast.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 4, 2023

A giddy mix of history and fantasy.

Full Review | Feb 4, 2023

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‘the woman king’ review: viola davis transforms in gina prince-bythewood’s rousing action epic.

The Academy Award-winning actress stars alongside Thuso Mbedu, Lashana Lynch, Sheila Atim and John Boyega in a feature inspired by an all-women warrior unit in pre-colonial Benin.

By Lovia Gyarkye

Lovia Gyarkye

Arts & Culture Critic

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But as a product of Hollywood, working in the American cinematic lexicon, The Woman King , with all its good intentions, nonetheless falls into the expected traps of melodrama and obfuscated history. Perhaps those flaws will be the subject of later conversations, when The Woman King stimulates impassioned critical discourse — the type that leads to an enthusiastic push to explore the African continent’s rich precolonial history or copious present-day narratives.

Her character is familiar in her complexity: a ruthless, protective leader plagued by a reflexive defensiveness. Nanisca loves the women in her regiment, whom she refers to as sisters, but struggles to embrace different ideas. That posture makes her relationship with the Agojie’s newest recruit, Nawi (a sharp Thuso Mbedu), initially difficult. The two frequently butt heads as the young fighter repeatedly questions why certain rules — lifelong celibacy, for example — still exist. Mbedu, the jewel of Barry Jenkins’ Underground Railroad , shines as Nawi, a teenager sent to join the Agojie after her father abandons the project of marrying her off.

The training of the newest cohort of fighters frames the first half of The Woman King , which takes great care to build a detailed portrait of Agojie life in the Dahomey Kingdom. These scenes, in addition to the action sequences, showcase Akin McKenzie and Gersha Phillips’ crisp production and costume designs. We see the youngest women doing drills within the palace’s terra cotta walls, running laps through the tall grasslands of the surrounding area and wrestling each other to improve their tactical skills. There’s also a palpable sororal energy between these women, young and old. In Amenza (Sheila Atim), Nanisca has a devoted friend; in Izogie (a wonderful Lashana Lynch), Nawi finds comfort and necessary reality checks. These montages are backed by Terence Blanchard’s exuberant score.

The origin of the Agojie is not reliably documented, but scholars suspect their unit was born out of necessity: The Dahomey, known for their strategic warfare and slave raids, countered the attrition of young men by recruiting women into military ranks; every unmarried woman could be enlisted. The Woman King doesn’t flesh out the origin story, but it does acknowledge and attempt to tackle the kingdom’s participation in enslaving other Africans.

Taking a pseudo-Pan-Africanist turn, the film puts Nanisca in the role of dissenter. With the nation initiating a war with the neighboring Oyo kingdom, to whom they have paid tribute for decades, the Agojie general urges King Ghezo (John Boyega) to think about the Dahomey’s future. She argues with him about the immorality of selling their own people to the Portuguese and suggests the kingdom turn to palm oil production for trade instead. Ghezo is unconvinced, fearing that change would lead to the kingdom’s demise. Nanisca implores him not to trust the colonizers.

The Woman King flits between the war with the Oyo, the broader battle against the encroaching slave trade and the internal drama of the Agojie. Nanisca’s intuition proves to be correct, but a recurring nightmare forces her to wrestle with her own demons, too. The general must consider the weight of her ambitions to become Woman King, a title conferred by Ghezo in the Dahomey tradition, and her past.

As the war with the Oyo deepens, and the fight scenes grow ever more intense, The Woman King digs its heels into familiar dramatic beats, leaning into universal themes of love, community and unambiguous moralism. For a crowd-pleasing epic — think Braveheart with Black women — that combination is more than enough.

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Review: Viola Davis adds another jewel to her crown in a rousing ‘Woman King’

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With her rousing new action-drama, “The Woman King,” director Gina Prince-Bythewood suggests that, in at least one crucial respect, the West African kingdom of Dahomey was more ahead of its time than that starry imperialist empire called Hollywood. An early 19th century epic awash in militaristic might and colonial oppression, the movie burnishes the truth and the legend of the Agojie, an all-female regiment of warriors who fought for Dahomey with great ferocity, unapologetic bloodlust and selfless abandon. And the most ferocious among them, at least in this swift and satisfying telling, was their top general, Nanisca, played by Viola Davis in the first major action showcase of her career.

That’s a remarkable accomplishment if also a revealing one, and it speaks less to any heretofore uncharted depths of Davis’ talent than to the limits of the film industry’s imagination. While her smarts and gravitas have always made her a natural fit for authority figures (she can do cunning government heavies in her sleep), it has seldom fallen to Davis to play the fearsome warrior. Or, as we see in “The Woman King’s” cut-to-the-quick opening scene, to rise silently from the grasses, sword out, midriff bared, shoulders agleam with sweat and firelight. Her enemies are the gun-wielding, horse-riding male soldiers of the Oyo Empire, who quickly set the stakes in a picture that aspires to the grandly epic scale of “Braveheart,” “Gladiator” and “The Last of the Mohicans.”

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If “The Woman King” doesn’t always match the visceral intensity of those pictures — Prince-Bythewood, a skillful director of action, keeps the carnage to a PG-13 minimum — it nonetheless rises to the challenge of using an old-fashioned template to deliver a flood tide of exhilarating new images. To watch the Agojie warriors storm into battle, armed with swords and spears and led by Nanisca’s mighty ululating battle cry, is to encounter much more than the standard Hollywood vision of resistance in action. And before long, the Agojie’s ranks are fortified by a fresh batch of recruits, some of whom are refugees from neighboring realms and some of whom, like a stubborn teenager named Nawi (an outstanding Thuso Mbedu), have been disowned and deposited at the palace gates by their fed-up families.

Nawi isn’t a conscript; as Nanisca makes clear, joining the Agojie is a choice. If that feels like a slightly sanitized reading of a military apparatus fed by prisoners of war, it nonetheless suits the story’s dramatic purposes. Becoming a soldier is very much a choice for Nawi, whose impetuousness is both a strength and a weakness, one that Nanisca does her best to temper with a spirit of discipline and self-sacrifice. To join this elite warrior class means taking a vow of lifelong celibacy, dwelling in a women-only section of the palace and swearing allegiance to Ghezo (John Boyega), Dahomey’s male king. Naturally, it also means submitting to the kind of intense fitness regimen — running through thickets of thorns, decapitating dummies stitched from tightly knotted ropes — that great training and competition montages are made of.

Prince-Bythewood steers us through these sequences with terrific sweep and urgency, lingering just long enough for you to take in this world in all its rich, tactile particulars, from the straw roofs and red earthen walls of Akin McKenzie’s production design to the intricately patterned fabrics and elaborate beadwork of Gersha Phillips’ costumes. (Terence Blanchard’s moving score heightens the immersion.) At times you wish the director would linger longer still, the better to let a deeper understanding of Dahomey’s rigid rules, meticulous hierarchies and tangled alliances seep into your bones.

The hard-working, sometimes muddled script, written by Dana Stevens (from a story credited to her and actor Maria Bello, who served as a producer), is too busy laying out the present-tense drama to delve into the history of how the Agojie women came to be. Nor does it unpack the tricky gender nuances of a kingdom where women who became Agojie were essentially considered to have become men, according to some historical accounts. To its credit, the movie does acknowledge some of the story’s uglier historical context, including the fact that Dahomey became a rich nation by profiting off the transatlantic slave trade, selling African prisoners to European invaders. (Jordan Bolger plays a hunky Portuguese Dahomean explorer who catches Nawi’s eye in a perfunctory romantic subplot.)

Nanisca abhors her kingdom’s complicity in slavery and is determined to put an end to it — a shrewd if narratively convenient choice that makes her an unambiguously easy hero to root for. It’s not the story’s only trade-off: If the general is easily the most physically imposing character Davis has ever played, that may necessarily preclude her from being the most interesting or psychologically complex. Fortunately, she doesn’t have to be: Commanding as Davis is to watch, she often cedes the spotlight to the other women in her midst. These include Mbedu, the South African-born star of last year’s limited series “The Underground Railroad,” and the Ugandan British actor Sheila Atim, who, as one of Nanisca’s deputies, can rivet the camera without a word. Most of all it includes Lashana Lynch (“No Time to Die”), who’s funny, fierce and finally heartbreaking as Izogie, a warrior who takes Nawi under her wing.

The sense of sisterly solidarity that powers “The Woman King” is the movie’s raison d’être; it’s also part of Prince-Bythewood’s authorial signature. Since she made her feature debut with “Love & Basketball” more than 20 years ago, her commitment to centering women in her storytelling, especially Black women, has never wavered, even as it’s cost her opportunities in an industry that likes to pass off its racism and sexism as commercial imperatives. In recent years the Hollywood tide has clearly begun to turn for Prince-Bythewood, on the evidence of “The Old Guard,” her bracing 2020 action-fantasy for Netflix about a band of immortal warriors. No one lives forever in “The Woman King,” but at its best it’s a reminder that history, even selectively dramatized history, doesn’t have to stay dead.

How ‘The Woman King’ makes Hollywood history with an incredible true story

‘The Woman King,’ directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood and starring Viola Davis, builds a dramatic epic around the real-life women who inspired ‘Black Panther’s Dora Milaje.

Aug. 31, 2022

‘The Woman King’

Rated: PG-13, for sequences of strong violence, some disturbing material, thematic content, brief language and partial nudity Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes Playing: Starts Sept. 16 in general release

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March 30, 2024

The Woman King Review

An inspiring story about the female warriors of african history..

The Woman King is in theaters on Sept. 16, 2022.

The Woman King is a refreshing departure from the current spate of action films that are mostly tied to superhero titles. Instead, director Gina Prince-Bythewood ( The Old Guard ) gives us a period piece about the real-life inspired female warriors of the African Kingdom of Dahomey known as the Agojie. Viola Davis is their world-weary yet fierce General Nanisca, who trains the women of her tribe and the captured women of other tribes to become elite warriors of unparalleled respect. The script itself is a bit surface when it comes to the complexities of the social and political tribe dynamics of the time, but the ensemble cast elevates even the soapiest subplots to make this a story worth watching.

Set in West Africa of 1823, a title plate explains the basics of the tribe structure between the more populous Oyo Empire and the Kingdom of Dahomey. The latter valued its women warriors so much that they had gender parity in their upper echelons of power, including an all-female guard known as the Agojie. They fought alongside their male counterparts and the most lauded could even ascend to the title of Woman King, who was the respected reign mate to the King.

However, that gender parity doesn’t cross tribes, or even trickle down to individual Dahomey households, where fathers commonly sell their daughters off to wealthy, older men regardless of treatment or their daughter’s wants. Nawi (Thuso Mbedu) is one of those girls, who balks at being given to a violent old man and fights back. Fed up with her brazen ways and lack of value, Nawi’s father gifts her to King Ghezo (John Boyega) and she is given the opportunity to join the Agojie. Despite the brutal training process overseen by General Nanisca, Nawi finds agency and friendship amongst her fellow peers and is mentored by the elite warrior Izogie (Lashana Lynch). They cultivate a sisterhood that is joyous to watch and root for as they become a found family inside the king’s palace.

Nawi eventually joins the ranks of the Agojie as they prepare to battle a myriad of outside threats including the oppressive Oyo, who demand increased tribute prices in exchange for protection from transatlantic slave traders frequenting their local ports. One of the most interesting moral quandaries of the film is witnessing how both the Dahomey and the Oyo are complicit in helping the slave trade. Each has amassed great wealth selling their prisoners to the slavers to fill their coffers, perpetuating a vicious cycle of preying on one another for profit. It’s Nanisca who sees how the raids and ongoing battles between the tribes are hurting their own, and she tries to influence Ghezo towards new industries like palm oil to get out of the blood trade.

What's the best Viola Davis role?

While that hypocrisy is compelling to watch play out, it doesn’t extend to the other major conflicts in the story. Dana Stevens' script has a tendency to set up the conflicts of the region in arguably far too binary terms. The Oyos are painted as the baddies with the Dahomey the progressive good guys, even with their contributions to the selling of their countrymen. The nuances of ancient tribe dynamics are whittled down to the super basic, so that we can follow along easily. But that undercuts what could have been a more complex exploration of the realities of West African history. Instead, the screenplay goes the more populist route by leaning on far too many melodramatic subplots, including secret pregnancies, a romance with a handsome European, political machinations by Ghezo’s trophy wife against Nanisca and a rapist nemesis. But the bulk of those stories do land because the cast is so damn good in selling the humanity within them. Still, the sheer volume of side stories makes the film feel bloated by the 75-minute mark, which is only exacerbated by a rolling ending that should have been culled back for more emotional impact.

But even with those quibbles, The Woman King is very much an engaging movie about the ingenuity and compassion of the Agojie warriors. Watching them train, support, and battle next to one another is rousing and inspiring. Prince-Bythewood continues to exhibit a great eye when it comes to blocking compelling action sequences. And because the women are very much human, the stunt work is remarkably grounded in the realism of their training and their prowess with their weapons of choice. The result is exhilarating combat sequences that feel real and tactile. And while some might be tempered by the boundaries of its PG-13 rating, the dialing back of the gore and splatter doesn’t diminish the film at all.

Performance wise, Davis is excellent as the scarred and world-weary Nanisca. She’s ever stalwart, be it her king or her warriors. But Davis knows when to let the tough facade fall, especially in scenes with her right-hand woman Amenza (Sheila Atim) and Nawi, so we see the heart of the woman underneath. Lynch is also excpetionally good in fashioning Izogie to be a counterpoint to Nanisca. They are both seasoned senior warriors, but Izogie is more patient and open with young Nawi and serves as an effective alternate symbol of strength to those coming up. And then there’s Mbedu, who really commands the camera with her expressive face. Nawi shoulders a lot of the emotional weight and it's through Mbedu’s reactions that the film often earns it tears or whoops of enthusiasm. She’s a talent clearly on the rise and a big part of why The Woman King rises above some of its tropes.

The Woman King overcomes the perils of its overstuffed script with a collection of performances that elevate the whole. As expected, Viola Davis is the emotional center of the piece, masterfully fine-tuning her performance to go from fierce to vulnerable as needed. More surprising is breakout star Thuso Mbedu as the Agojie’s new recruit, Nawi. She drives the majority of the story and lands everything the movie asks of her and then some. What results is a crowd-pleasing movie featuring an inspiring array of female heroes who, even in 1823, are more than capable of saving themselves, and do it quite thrillingly.

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The Woman King review – Viola Davis leads the line in stirring warrior tale

Davis is the general of an elite team of female fighters, based on the Agojie of 19th-century west Africa, as colonialists seek to exploit tribal conflict

D irector Gina Prince-Bythewood plants the bold flags of storytelling and myth-making with this stirring period action movie, inspired by the 19th-century west African kingdom of Dahomey (now Benin) and its Agojie, an Amazon brigade of female warriors tougher and more feared than any men: somewhere between a special forces unit and a praetorian guard for the king.

Viola Davis plays Nanisca, the battle-scarred general of the Agojie: tough, disciplined and hyperalert for any sign of attack from their old enemy, the Oyo empire, and worried that the new king Ghezo (John Boyega), who has deposed his brother in a coup, is not sufficiently focused on these things. Nanisca’s loyal lieutenants are Izogie ( Lashana Lynch ) and Amenza (Sheila Atim) but she nonetheless finds herself strangely preoccupied by a new hothead recruit, Nawi (Thuso Mbedu), who has been effectively dumped on the military by an angry father on account of her resistance to marriage. As two Brazilian aristocrat slavers come to their country, eager to exploit the warring factions who each wish to sell off their prisoners of war into slavery, Nawi is to come of age as a warrior and make a terrible discovery about her past.

The Woman King is an interestingly old-fashioned film, with hints of Gladiator and Braveheart, although there is something bracingly contemporary in Prince-Bythewood and her screenwriters Maria Bello and Dana Stevens tackling the way tribal warfare, insidiously encouraged by the imperialists, created the market forces for slavery – although Ghezo is now considering making the big business-model move from slavery to palm oil, which is lucrative and plentiful. This is a big, bold picture with the vivid presences of Davis, Lynch, Atim and Mbedu giving it some real voltage. I sometimes wondered if there wasn’t room for a more potent villain here, someone worthy to face off dramatically with the charismatic Davis: Boyega’s Ghezo is supposed to be flawed but there was perhaps room for a real antagonist to strike more sparks. Even so, this is a grand spectacle with vivid and theatrical performances.

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The woman king review: an action epic with heart & a stunning ensemble cast.

As The Woman King builds tension, it gains momentum while telling a unique story that is grand in scale, emotional at heart, and well executed.

Gina Prince-Bythewood is back with another phenomenal film. The Woman King assembles an incredible ensemble cast to tell the story of the Agojie, once called the Dahomey Amazons, an all-woman warrior tribe. The film is an action epic with excellent and well-choreographed fight sequences — one of the best in a long while — that doesn't forego the character dynamics at the core of its story. As The Woman King builds tension, it gains momentum while telling a unique story that is grand in scale, emotional at heart, and well executed in almost every way.

Set in the West African kingdom of Dahomey in 1823, the all-female Agojie warriors continue to fight on behalf of King Ghezo (John Boyega) against the dominating Oyo Empire. Led by General Nanisca (Viola Davis), the Agojie — including stern, but free-spirited Izogie (Lashana Lynch) and Amenza (Sheila Atim), Nanisca’s second-in-command and confidant — battle the Oyo, taking those they captured to be sold into the slave trade in exchange for weapons from the Europeans. (It’s a subject The Woman King handles carefully.) Elsewhere, 19-year-old Nawi (Thuso Mbedu) is offered to King Ghezo by her father, who is angry he cannot marry her off. She is quickly taken under the wing of Izogie, who offers her a chance to train with and join the Agojie as a warrior, promising the sisterhood will always be there for her.

Related: Biggest Movies Coming In Fall/Winter 2022

The Woman King looks and feels like a movie that doesn’t get made anymore. Most recently, The Northman came close, but it ultimately lacked the character development needed to make such a film of its magnitude work. The Woman King is Gladiator -esque in that it’s heavily focused on character-driven drama, but with the spectacle that makes it an altogether stunning watch. The musical score by Terence Blanchard is hypnotic, the cinematography by Polly Morgan resplendent, and the costumes and production design by Gersha Phillips and Akin McKenzie, respectively, are truly a sight to behold. Everything comes together exquisitely and, though the film is at times conventional, it leans into its drama, its action, and its characters with intensity and emotional weight. Nothing is too over-the-top and, though the action scenes may be violent (not enough to make give it an R rating), there is a vulnerability and fiery camaraderie that comes with the sisterhood that is the Agojie.

The film is led by Viola Davis , who delivers an outstanding performance as Nanisca. There is a lot that weighs on her shoulders, a burden and trauma she carries. She is not only contending with her past, but with Dahomey’s politics and future. Davis explores the layers of her character’s interiority with immense vulnerability and nuance. The actress takes on a role that is physically and emotionally demanding with depth, strength, and grace. While Davis is always great, The Woman King boasts a spectacular ensemble that works well together. Lashana Lynch, who didn’t get nearly enough shine in No Time to Die , is excellent. She brings the humor, emotion, and fierceness required of an Agojie warrior. Thuso Mbedu is especially a standout. She nearly overshadows Davis as the bold Nawi who is trying to find her place within the Agojie. Mbedu engages with Nawi’s rebellious spirit and big heart, balancing each with ease. Sheila Atim and John Boyega are also wonderful, rounding out a memorable cast. Each of these characters have flaws and that is what makes them engaging and oh so human. They must overcome hurdles, emotional and physical, which is what makes The Woman King all the more powerful on that front.

The Woman King has enough action sequences to please, though it thankfully doesn’t overdo it with the brutality. It’s just enough to showcase the violent nature of the fights without lingering too long on the gore. What’s more, the fight choreography is stunning, as is Prince-Bythewood’s directing in these scenes. It’s the kind of action that one can appreciate, shown in all its glory without employing camera work that would shift away or make it hard to see. The film is epic in scope, but intimate when it comes to its personal story. There is plenty of drama, and the tension rises to a boiling point that will leave audiences cheering and rooting for the Agojie at every turn.

The film is an uplifting crowd-pleaser, certainly, and the combination of the character and political drama with the big action scenes work exceptionally well. The weakest link is Nawi’s romance with Jordan Bolger’s character, a Dahomey descendant who returns in search of his roots, simply because it isn’t as fully developed as many of the film’s other relationships. Minor hiccups aside, The Woman King is a blockbuster with a lot of heart and a clear story that is tightly written; it’s well worth the watch.

The Woman King premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 9, 2022. The film releases in theaters on September 16. It is 135 minutes long and is rated PG-13 for sequences of strong violence, some disturbing material, thematic content, brief language and partial nudity.

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The woman king.

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Review: A classic battle epic in ‘The Woman King’

This image released by Sony Pictures shows Viola Davis in “The Woman King.” (Sony Pictures via AP)

This image released by Sony Pictures shows Viola Davis, left, and John Boyega in “The Woman King.” (Sony Pictures via AP)

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Viola Davis should have been leading armies this whole time.

In “ The Woman King ,” the always regal Oscar-winner is a mass of muscle, battle wounds and world weariness as General Nanisca, the head of the Agojie, an all-female unit of warriors who protected the West African Kingdom of Dahomey in the 19th century. Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood , who cannot be pigeonholed , the film is a throwback of sorts to the big, exciting, emotional warrior epics that used to be all too common at the multiplex, with the twist that it’s women not men driving the action.

But unlike some recent cinematic depictions of armies not entirely comprised of men, they didn’t have to look to fantasy or the comic books to make “The Woman King” — just a history that isn’t widely taught. More people probably know the Dora Milaje than the Agojie, who actually inspired the “Black Panther” fighters.

It is powerful that they are not immortal like Wonder Woman. There’s no condescending Avengers-like battle moment. There are no superpowers or magic lassos of truth. The ropes here are just ropes, but deadly still. They also fight with machetes and, sometimes, fingernails, up against brutish men and often win. In other words, there’s no tricks, Nanisca explains, just skill (and bruises and scars). There’s a reason she’s described by a young trainee as looking just like some old woman (any warrior should be so lucky to be old).

Written by Dana Stevens, “The Woman King” is a classic “one last fight” tale with a grizzled war veteran in Davis, a new recruit in Nawi (a compelling and complex Thuso Mbedu), and the one who takes her under her wing, Izogie (a terrific part for Lashana Lynch, of “Captain Marvel” and James Bond). Terence Blanchard lends a fittingly rousing score to the action, which, though brutal, is carefully constructed to keep that superhero PG-13 rating.

The world of the “The Woman King” is no paradise though. It’s 1823 and there is rape and rampant hatred of women. There are slavers and colonizers around. The young trainee, Nawi, only arrives at the palace doorsteps after her father gives up on trying to marry her off to anyone who will take her, abusive or not. The women don’t all get along, the king’s brides look down at the soldiers. And Nanisca, too, looks at women’s tears as a sign of weakness.

It’s also a very Hollywood version of what may have happened as they prepare to go up against the powerful Oyo empire, with some convenient reveals, a love interest, a slightly idealized king figure (in John Boyega) and an old score someone needs to settle. This is not, in other words, a history lesson about the Agojie, though it could perhaps inspire some to seek that out or even write their own. That there are few true surprises isn’t necessarily a bad thing, either. The film is exactly what you need it to be: An exciting and emotionally true spectacle that required a heck of a fight to simply exist .

I’ll stop short of saying that Prince-Bythewood should have been directing these all along too, however. If she’d started and stayed with action, we wouldn’t have gotten “Love & Basketball” or “Beyond the Lights,” and what kind of cinematic landscape would that be? But we should all be so lucky that she gets to do this too.

“The Woman King,” a Sony/TriStar Release in theaters now, is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association for “sequences of strong violence, some disturbing material, thematic content, brief language and partial nudity.” Running time: 134 minutes. Three stars out of four.

MPA Definition of PG-13: Parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

This story was first published on September 15, 2022. It was updated on September 18, 2022, to correct the name of the West African kingdom depicted in the film. It was Dahomey, not Dohemy.

Follow AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ldbahr

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The Woman King First Reviews: Viola Davis Rules the Screen in a Rousing, Action-Packed Crowd-Pleaser

Critics say that despite a few minor quibbles with the script, gina prince-bythewood's historical epic offers an awards-worthy performance from davis, a breakout star in thuso mbedu, and impressively choreographed action scenes..

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Viola Davis stars in the action drama The Woman King , which received rave reviews out of its Toronto International Film Festival premiere. Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood ( The Old Guard ), the movie is said to mix mainstream Hollywood entertainment with a story of social and historical significance. The ensemble cast, including Davis, Lashana Lynch , John Boyega , and Thuso Mbedu , has been praised across the board, and the action is also a highlight. However, there are some minor disappointments in the script.

Here’s what critics are saying about The Woman King :

Is The Woman King a crowd-pleaser?

A crowd-pleasing epic — think Braveheart with Black women. – Lovia Gyarkye, Hollywood Reporter

When The Woman King works, it’s majestic… The magnitude and the awe this movie inspires are what epics like Gladiator and Braveheart are all about. – Robert Daniels, RogerEbert.com

A hell of a time at the movies, a seemingly “niche” topic with great appeal, the sort of battle-heavy feature that will likely engender plenty of hoots and hollers. – Kate Erbland, IndieWire

Easily one of my favorite experiences of the year in a theater… It’s an action epic that is sure to make everyone stand up and cheer. – Kate Sánchez, But Why Tho? A Geek Community

An absolute blast. It’s a film that isn’t afraid to get you cheering. – Chris Evangelista, Slashfilm

As a mainstream action epic, it has plenty to offer. – Joey Magidson, Awards Radar

It is a splashy popcorn movie with a social conscience. – Caryn James, BBC.com

(Photo by ©TriStar Pictures)

How is Viola Davis?

This is the greatest performance of her career. – Jamie Broadnax, Black Girl Nerds

Davis is stellar…[she] seems to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders just with a single glance. – Chris Evangelista, Slashfilm

This is Davis’s film, and her artful control of her face, her voice, and her body is breathtaking. – Kate Sánchez, But Why Tho? A Geek Community

The Oscar-winning actress, known for digging into her characters’ psyches, accesses an impressive level of emotional depth and nuance as Nanisca. – Lovia Gyarkye, Hollywood Reporter

Reminding us at every moment that she’s one of the best actresses of her generation. She’s the thespian rising tide that lifts every other performance around her. – Roger Moore, Movie Nation

Davis truly gets to flex the full range of her acting chops. A performance of this caliber is rare in what’s essentially an action flick. – Martin Tsai, The Wrap

Viola Davis is the movie’s title character and should have been in more scenes. – Carla Hay, Culture Mix

Does she rise to the occasion as an action star?

Viola Davis is a formidable force in The Woman King … [She] stuns in the most physically demanding role of her estimable career. – Tim Grierson, Screen International

At 57 years old, this is Davis’s first full-blown action role, and she’s still fully believable as a seasoned warrior. – Reuben Baron, Looper.com

If people like Bob Odenkirk and Liam Neeson can become action heroes in their 50s, Davis seems bound to show people she can, too. Her raw intensity is backed up by a newly jacked physique that makes her an imposing action heroine, and she performs exceptionally well in the numerous action scenes. – Chris Bumbray, JoBlo’s Movie Network

Davis showcases that action sequences can be just as intimate and emotional as dramatic moments… [She] can easily best any action star on the screen. – Kate Sánchez, But Why Tho? A Geek Community

How is Lashana Lynch?

In a cast full of heavy-hitters, Lynch is the real stand-out… Every second she’s on screen is a treat, and I wanted more of her. – Chris Evangelista, Slashfilm

Lynch demonstrates the same steely authority that made her so appealing in last year’s No Time To Die . – Tim Grierson, Screen International

Lashana Lynch, the most experienced action star of the bunch with No Time to Die and the Marvel Cinematic Universe under her belt, is a standout as Izogie… and is responsible for some of the film’s most intense emotional moments. – Reuben Baron, Looper.com

Does anyone else in the cast stand out?

Mbedu, the jewel of Barry Jenkins’ Underground Railroad , shines as Nawi, a teenager sent to join the Agojie after her father abandons the project of marrying her off. – Lovia Gyarkye, Hollywood Reporter

Mbedu gives a breakout performance. – Chris Evangelista, Slashfilm

Thuso Mbedu seems destined to be a star. – Reuben Baron, Looper.com

Mbedu reaffirms herself as a star. – Robert Daniels, RogerEbert.com

[With] an exceptional supporting performance… Mbedu nearly steals the show. – Tim Grierson, Screen International

How is Gina Prince-Bythewood’s directing?

Prince-Bythewood has somehow managed to set the bar even higher for her own standard of women-empowered stories. – Jamie Broadnax, Black Girl Nerds

Prince-Bythewood knows how to craft a sword and sandals style action epic. – Joey Magidson, Awards Radar

[She shows] a skilled eye for understanding that an action sequence is never just a fight, but rather a moment to tell a story packed with emotion. – Kate Sánchez, But Why Tho? A Geek Community

Her style encompasses the perfect balance of action and drama and is unafraid to put the brutality of humans on full display. – Valerie Complex, Deadline Hollywood Daily

Gina Prince-Bythewood doesn’t make a wrong move. – Caryn James, BBC.com

It’s the movie Prince-Bythewood has been building toward throughout her entire career. And she doesn’t miss. – Robert Daniels, RogerEbert.com

How is the action?

The fight choreography in this film is by far the most impressive I’ve ever seen on screen in a very long time. – Jamie Broadnax, Black Girl Nerds

The battles are relentless and kinetic. – Caryn James, BBC.com

The fight scenes are big, bombastic, and often brutal. – Martin Tsai, The Wrap

Gina Prince-Bythewood has crafted battle sequences that are exciting and moving at the same time. – Tim Grierson, Screen International

The Woman King opens with an incredible action sequence… Men are getting sliced, diced and tossed across the screen by these mighty warrior women. – Valerie Complex, Deadline Hollywood Daily

The Woman King is at its best when our heroines are kicking ass. – Joey Magidson, Awards Radar

The PG-13 rating… makes the action sequences tamer than they should be. – Chris Bumbray, JoBlo’s Movie Network

Is it violent?

Eye-popping battle sequences [push] that PG-13 rating to wild ends. – Kate Erbland, IndieWire

The camera takes us inside the hand-to-hand combat, with warriors plunging spears into bodies and slicing throats. This is not benign, cartoonish action. – Caryn James, BBC.com

The sound team works overtime to give us a sense of brutality, but there’s no blood or gore when Davis and her crew are hacking adversaries to pieces. It leaves the battles looking a little too clean-cut. – Chris Bumbray, JoBlo’s Movie Network

There are moments where swords don’t connect and the wounds from being injured or killed look like bright red blots of ink rather than an injury from war. – Kate Sánchez, But Why Tho? A Geek Community

The Woman King has some intense battle scenes and depictions of enslavement that might be too hard to watch for very sensitive viewers. – Carla Hay, Culture Mix

What about the script?

The script by Dana Stevens (with a Story By credit going to Maria Bello) is a bit on the standard side, but it’s in service of the old school dramatic spectacle on hand. – Joey Magidson, Awards Radar

The plot to The Woman King can feel convoluted. But its excesses serve the film’s blockbuster goals. – Robert Daniels, RogerEbert.com

Dana Stevens’ screenplay, based on Maria Bello’s story, tries to balance several competing and not always steady plotlines over the course of two hours. – Lovia Gyarkye, Hollywood Reporter

The script never goes quite as deep as it could. – Chris Evangelista, Slashfilm

The Woman King doesn’t always successfully juggle its myriad narrative ambitions. – Tim Grierson, Screen International

The Woman King is sometimes cluttered and uneven… The development of the Nanisca character sometimes falls short of what many viewers might expect. – Carla Hay, Culture Mix

Does the romantic subplot work?

The inclusion of a romance subplot… feels quite forced and accelerated. – Kate Sánchez, But Why Tho? A Geek Community

A flat attempt at a love story… feels like the product of truly misguided studio notes. – Kate Erbland, IndieWire

It feels like it comes out of another movie… Mbedu, unrealistically, seems drawn to a man that associates with the same folks that routinely enslave her people. – Chris Bumbray, JoBlo’s Movie Network

The dramatic beats and subplots are fine, but they lack some of the consistent effectiveness that the fight scenes do. – Joey Magidson, Awards Radar

How well does it represent history and the culture it depicts?

The Woman King also does a phenomenal job of showcasing the culture, wealth, and beauty of Dahomey. – Kate Sánchez, But Why Tho? A Geek Community

Shot on location in Africa, [it] benefits immensely from rich production design from Akin McKenzie, delightful costumes from Gersha Phillips, and functional and fun hairstyles from Louisa V. Anthony’s department. – Kate Erbland, IndieWire

The tactile costumes by Gersha Phillips and the detailed production design by Akin McKenzie feel lived in and vibrant, especially in the vital rendering of the Dahomey Kingdom, which is teeming with scenes of color and community. – Robert Daniels, RogerEbert.com

Production design by Akin Mackenzie and costumes by Gersha Phillips are lush and opulent, drenched in deep red and yellow hues. A lot of thought went into making the kingdom of Dahomey look as authentic as possible. – Valerie Complex, Deadline Hollywood Daily

The Woman King leans toward fantasy in its heroic moments, but is rooted in truth about war, brutality and freedom. – Caryn James, BBC.com

The Woman King begins as portraiture and then surrenders to melodrama when faced with the challenges of translating history for the screen and constructing a coherent geopolitical thread. – Lovia Gyarkye, Hollywood Reporter

The Woman King is an 8/10 for entertainment value, and 4/10 for how it deals with history. – Reuben Baron, Looper.com

Do we need more movies like The Woman King ?

In 2022, this should not be the exception. Hollywood should have been making films like The Woman King for many years… If this is what a Hollywood-ized and -sized blockbuster looks like in 2022, bring it on. Bring them all on. – Kate Erbland, IndieWire

Maybe one day we’ll get to a point where such a movie doesn’t feel groundbreaking, but here we are. – Chris Evangelista, Slashfilm

The Woman King opens everywhere on September 16, 2022.

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The woman king, common sense media reviewers.

Memorable, historic, violent tale of African women warriors.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Promotes courage, perseverance, and teamwork, maki

The leaders of the Agojie -- Nanisca, Amenza, and

Positive representation of an African kingdom that

Lots of fight/battle scenes with a high body count

The Agojie are expected to be virgins. A man shows

"Bitches" is shown in subtitles; insults include "

Adults drink at a feast. One Agojie, who drinks fr

Parents need to know that The Woman King is an empowering historical adventure drama that follows Nanisca, the general (Viola Davis) of a 19th century West African all-female royal guard called the Agojie. The Agojie of the Kingdom of Dahomey (what's now Benin) -- the inspiration for the Dora Milaje in

Positive Messages

Promotes courage, perseverance, and teamwork, making it clear that these highly trained women warriors are every bit as capable, imposing, and successful as men. Values the abilities of women (particularly women over 30) and people of color. Stresses historical importance of abolitionist attitudes and the negative impact of colonization and the slave trade.

Positive Role Models

The leaders of the Agojie -- Nanisca, Amenza, and Izogie -- are firm and demanding but also encouraging and willing to teach young women from other tribes and villages. Nawi is brave, curious, and strong-willed, although also occasionally reckless and defiant. All of the women are strong, smart, capable, and brave.

Diverse Representations

Positive representation of an African kingdom that had an all-women king's guard. (The Agojie are little known in mainstream media.) Women have agency and are shown to be strong, smart, capable, and brave. The movie's only White characters are involved in the transatlantic slave trade; the movie also depicts Africans who sold other Africans to slave traders. A biracial Brazilian character identifies as Black once he's back in Dahomey and helps Nawi and sides with the Agojie. Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, a Black woman.

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Violence & Scariness

Lots of fight/battle scenes with a high body count. Battles are intense (bloody wounds, stabbings, slit throats, shots of dead bodies, etc.) and full of moments when it seems like a character is going to die. A couple of deaths (both real and presumed) are particularly emotional. Weapons used in full-scale battle scenes include spears, curved knives, ropes, and muskets -- and a particularly bloody use of sharpened fingernails. Domestic/sexual violence includes an older suitor punching a young woman he's expressing marital interest in, and flashbacks to a woman remembering being repeatedly raped.

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Sex, Romance & Nudity

The Agojie are expected to be virgins. A man shows an interest in a young Agojie in training, who catches him naked when he's bathing in a river. His partially nude body (bare behind, back, chest, abs) is visible. They eventually speak, exchange longing looks, and in subsequent scenes are shown embracing and later in what's an implied post-sex scene. The king gives affectionate attention to a few different wives.

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"Bitches" is shown in subtitles; insults include "worthless," "lazy," "stubborn," "old woman."

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Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Adults drink at a feast. One Agojie, who drinks from a small flask, makes a joke that the only good thing the White men bring is whiskey.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that The Woman King is an empowering historical adventure drama that follows Nanisca, the general ( Viola Davis ) of a 19th century West African all-female royal guard called the Agojie. The Agojie of the Kingdom of Dahomey (what's now Benin) -- the inspiration for the Dora Milaje in Black Panther -- fought off hostile tribes from bordering nations. Expect a high body count, with lots of fighting and intense, often bloody warfare. The Agojie use ropes, spears, finely sharpened fingernails, and other weapons in scenes that show dead bodies. A few of the deaths are particularly upsetting. There are also flashbacks to sexual assault and one moment when a suitor strikes a young woman he's courting. Language isn't frequent but includes "bitches" in subtitles. Adults drink, a man's partially nude body (bare behind, back, chest, abs) is visible, and there are scenes that show embracing and imply that characters had sex. The film is a labor of love from critically acclaimed filmmaker Gina Prince-Bythewood ( Love and Basketball and The Old Guard ). Families will want to research the history of the "Dahomey Amazons" to compare what's been written about the elite army with the film's plot. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

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Community Reviews

• Parents say (10)
• Kids say (10)

Based on 10 parent reviews

Heroic Blockbuster violence ( glosses over details about Slavery)

A well-made movie has intense, brutal violence, what's the story.

Writer-director Gina Prince-Bythewood 's drama THE WOMAN KING was inspired by the real-life Agojie, an elite, all-women royal guard of the Kingdom of Dahomey (West Africa) in the 19th century. The film's story follows the group's influential general, Nanisca ( Viola Davis ), whose warriors must fight off the neighboring tribe that's trying to conquer them and sell more and more people into enslavement. The Agojie, who live on the royal grounds, dedicate themselves to their sisterhood and to King Ghezo ( John Boyega ), forsaking the possibility of marriage or children. The film explores how Nanisca; her second-in-command, Amenza (Sheila Atim); protege Igozie ( Lashana Lynch ); and the rest of the guard train recruits -- young women who are either brought from neighboring villages in conflict with Dahomey or presented to the king by their fathers. One promising upstart is the strong-willed Nawi (Thuso Mbedu), who questions authority. Nanisca's mission to protect Dahomey grows urgent as the twin threats of the rival tribe and White enslavers imperil the kingdom's future.

Is It Any Good?

This powerful, poignant film with an excellent cast led by Davis celebrates Black sisterhood and strength. If you had any doubt that women over 55 can be fierce warriors, seeing Michelle Yeoh in Everything Everywhere All at Once and now Davis in The Woman King should disabuse you of that uncertainty. Davis is flat-out phenomenal as General Nanisca, bringing her characteristic gravitas and charisma to the role. The other warriors are also wonderful, particularly Atim, an award-winning British actor who should be cast in a leading role as soon as possible, and Lynch, best known for her Captain Marvel role, who's imposing but also funny and generous. Both give scene-stealing performances and more than hold their own with Davis. South African newcomer Mbedu is compelling and well cast as the ambitious young recruit ready to prove her worth.

The movie's action scenes are tautly shot by cinematographer Polly Morgan, who makes the most of the weaponry and landscape. Gersha Phillips' costume design is gorgeous, and Terence Blanchard's propulsive score -- a collaboration with South African producer, composer, and singer Lebo M -- deftly uses African percussion and themes. Although there's a slightly unnecessary romance, the movie's plot manages to balance action sequences with moments of character development, friendship, and historical reflection. Prince-Bythewood has been a critically acclaimed filmmaker for many years, and it's thrilling that she's continuing to demonstrate her skill at eliciting great performances from character-driven dramas.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the violence in The Woman King . Do you think it's necessary to the story?

Does the movie make you interested in the historical background of the Kingdom of Dahomey?

Talk about the similarities between the Dora Milaje and the Agojie. Is it clear that the Black Panther squad was inspired by the Dahomey king's guard?

How is the slave trade depicted in the movie? What did you learn from watching?

Movie Details

• In theaters : September 16, 2022
• On DVD or streaming : December 13, 2022
• Cast : Viola Davis , Hero Fiennes Tiffin , Lashana Lynch
• Director : Gina Prince-Bythewood
• Inclusion Information : Female directors, Black directors, Female actors, Black actors, Female writers
• Studio : TriStar Pictures
• Genre : Action/Adventure
• Topics : Friendship , History
• Character Strengths : Courage , Perseverance , Teamwork
• Run time : 135 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG-13
• MPAA explanation : sequences of strong violence, some disturbing material, thematic content, brief language and partial nudity
• Award : Common Sense Selection
• Last updated : March 15, 2023

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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The Woman King review: a thrilling period epic

The Woman King opens purposefully and violently. The film’s first sequence, which brings to life a brutal battle from its sudden beginning all the way to its somber end, is a master class in visual storytelling. Not only does it allow director Gina Prince-Bythewood to, once again, prove her worth as a capable action filmmaker, but it also introduces The Woman King ’s central all-female army, sets up the film’s core conflict, and introduces nearly every important character that you’ll need to know for the two hours that follow it. The fact that The Woman King does all of this within the span of a few short minutes just makes its opening sequence all the more impressive.

The level of impressive craftsmanship in The Woman King ’s memorably violent prologue is present throughout the entirety of its 135-minute runtime. For that reason, the film often feels like a throwback to an era that seems to reside farther in the past than it actually does, one when it was common for all the major Hollywood studios to regularly put out historical epics that were, if nothing else, reliably well-made and dramatically engaging.

Nowadays, those qualities feel increasingly hard to find in most contemporary blockbusters. The Woman King , thankfully, reminds us of what a midsized blockbuster can — and should — be. As the film’s director, Prince-Bythewood, who already ranks as one of Hollywood’s most underappreciated filmmakers, manages to do that while bringing to life a cinematic story that definitely wouldn’t have been produced 1o or 15 years ago.

Set in the early 1800s, The Woman King follows the Agojie, the all-female army that is assigned to protect the West African kingdom of Dahomey, as well as its ruler, King Ghezo (John Boyega). Led by the fierce General Nanisca (a reliably commanding Viola Davis), the film follows the Agojie as they lead Dahomey into a long-brewing conflict with the neighboring Oyo Empire after the latter attempts to increase its power over Dahomey by demanding that more of the kingdom’s citizens be sold into slavery.

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The conflict between Dahomey and the Oyo Empire quickly turns out to be more personal for Davis’ Nanisca than she expected, but The Woman King spends most of its first half exploring the customs and friendships that bind the women of the Agojie together. The film does so by introducing Nawi (Thuso Mbedu), a young girl who proves to be so resistant to the very concept of arranged marriage that her father ends up offering her up to the Agojie as a new recruit. It’s through Nawi’s eyes that viewers are then drawn into the all-female world of the Agojie, which counts the formidable Izogie (Lashana Lynch) and the wise Amenza (Sheila Atim) as two of its high-ranking members.

But, as inspiring as the Agojie are, The Woman King doesn’t make the conflict between their kingdom of Dahomey and the Oyo Empire as clear-cut as it initially appears. Dahomey’s anger over the Oyo Empire’s engagement in the slave trade is, notably, complicated by the fact that it and its leaders have similarly accumulated great wealth by capturing and selling their fellow Africans into slavery. This fact weighs heavy on Davis’ Nanisca, and while the rivalry between Dahomey and the Oyo Empire is the source of The Woman King ’s biggest action sequences and set pieces, it gradually becomes clear that the film’s villain is not the Oyo Empire, but the slave trade itself.

When The Woman King focuses on those aspects of its story, it’s often riveting. The same cannot be said for the moments when the film shifts its focus to superfluous subplots like the romance that develops between Mbedu’s Nawi and Malik (Jordan Bolger), a half-Dahomey, half-Portuguese man who arrives in Africa alongside Santo Ferreira (Hero Fiennes Tiffin), a friend whose family made their fortune through the slave trade. Malik and Nawi’s scenes carry neither the romantic spark nor the thematic weight that they need in order to feel justified, which makes the film’s focus on their relationship in its second half nothing more than mildly irritating.

Prince-Bythewood and Dana Stevens’ script also attempts to literalize the guilt and ancestral pain that The Woman King ’s characters carry with them through a twist that, at first, seems to defy all logic. However, while the storyline that stems from it frequently pushes against the boundaries of believability, it does culminate in a long, steady shot of Davis near the end of The Woman King that makes the entire subplot feel, if only for a moment, completely worth it. Such is the power of Davis, a performer who is capable of bringing regality, strength, and warmth to any part she plays.

Outside of Davis, Sheila Atim also impresses with her warm and considerate performance as Amenza, Nanisca’s second-in-command and most trusted friend. Lashana Lynch, meanwhile, nearly steals The Woman King out from under her co-stars with her turn as Izogie, the humorous but commanding Agojie warrior who takes Nawi under her wing early on in the film’s first act. In case her scene-stealing performance in last year’s No Time to Die  hadn’t already done so, Lynch’s turn in The Woman King proves, once and for all, that she’s one of Hollywood’s most exciting emerging talents.

Behind the camera, Prince-Bythewood brings a muscular, confident visual style to The Woman Kin g, allowing its various action sequences to unfold cleanly without ever resorting to any cheap gimmicks or attention-grabbing camera tricks. The director, along with her cinematographer, Polly Morgan, also gives The Woman King a rich look that only further emphasizes its deep shades of brown, red, black, purple, and green. Unlike a number of other blockbusters that have been released this year, The Woman King ’s ambitions never exceed its reach either, which is to say that the film is basically devoid of the kind of distractingly bad VFX shots that have become far too common as of late.

In its attempts to jam as much into its story as possible, The Woman King does end up emerging as a far more uneven film than it might have been had it kept its focus solely on the personal and political struggles of the Agojie. Shaving off some of its unnecessary detours would have, at the very least, let The Woman King  avoid some of the pacing problems it experiences throughout its second and third acts. Nevertheless, the film’s flaws don’t take much away from its entertainment value, nor do they lessen the weight of its most impactful moments.

More than anything, by bringing her strong grasp of cinematic language to The Woman King ’s story, Prince-Bythewood has crafted a film that feels refreshingly modern and old school at the same time. It’s not a film that’ll make you nostalgic for the days when period epics like it were a dime a dozen, but one that, instead, has the power to make you wonder what kind of movies audiences could see in the future were Hollywood to actually begin investing again in more projects like The Woman King .

The Woman King hits theaters on Friday, September 16.

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Entergalactic isn’t like most other animated movies that you’ll see this year — or any year, for that matter. The film, which was created by Scott Mescudi a.k.a. Kid Cudi and executive producer Kenya Barris, was originally intended to be a TV series. Now, it’s set to serve as a 92-minute companion to Cudi’s new album of the same name. That means Entergalactic not only attempts to tell its own story, one that could have easily passed as the plot of a Netflix original rom-com, but it does so while also featuring several sequences that are set to specific Cudi tracks.

Beyond the film’s musical elements, Entergalactic is also far more adult than viewers might expect it to be. The film features several explicit sex scenes and is as preoccupied with the sexual politics of modern-day relationships as it is in, say, street art or hip-hop. While Entergalactic doesn’t totally succeed in blending all of its disparate elements together, the film’s vibrantly colorful aesthetic and infectiously romantic mood make it a surprisingly sweet, imaginative tour through a fairytale version of New York City.

From its chaotic, underwater first frame all way to its liberating, sun-soaked final shot, God’s Creatures is full of carefully composed images. There’s never a moment across the film’s modest 94-minute runtime in which it feels like co-directors Saela Davis and Anna Rose Holmer aren’t in full control of what’s happening on-screen. Throughout much of God’s Creatures’ quietly stomach-churning second act, that sense of directorial control just further heightens the tension that lurks beneath the surface of the film’s story.

In God's Creatures' third act, however, Holmer and Davis’ steady grip becomes a stranglehold, one that threatens to choke all the drama and suspense out of the story they’re attempting to tell. Moments that should come across as either powerful punches to the gut or overwhelming instances of emotional relief are so underplayed that they are robbed of much of their weight. God's Creatures, therefore, ultimately becomes an interesting case study on artistic restraint, and, specifically, how too calculated a style can, if executed incorrectly, leave a film feeling unsuitably cold.

Andrew Dominik’s Blonde opens, quite fittingly, with the flashing of bulbs. In several brief, twinkling moments, we see a rush of images: cameras flashing, spotlights whirring to life, men roaring with excitement (or anger — sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference), and at the center of it all is her, Marilyn Monroe (played by Ana de Armas), striking her most iconic pose as a gust of wind blows up her white dress. It’s an opening that makes sense for a film about a fictionalized version of Monroe’s life, one that firmly roots the viewer in the world and space of a movie star. But to focus only on de Armas’ Marilyn is to miss the point of Blonde’s opening moments.

As the rest of Dominik’s bold, imperfect film proves, Blonde is not just about the recreation of iconic moments, nor is it solely about the making of Monroe’s greatest career highlights. It is, instead, about exposure and, in specific, the act of exposing yourself — for art, for fame, for love — and the ways in which the world often reacts to such raw vulnerability. In the case of Blonde, we're shown how a world of men took advantage of Monroe’s vulnerability by attempting to control her image and downplay her talent.

The Woman King Review

16 Sep 2022

The Woman King

“All I ever knew of Africans was slaves,” says Malik (Jordan Bolger) in one scene in The Woman King . He is a Portuguese-African man, and son of a woman stolen from her country; during a quiet moment pondering the mass displacement of slavery, he’s in Dahomey (modern-day Benin) to see the one place his mother was free, a connection to roots that many were never able to make. Gina Prince-Bythewood ’s fifth film seeks the same Africa: the multifaceted one hidden behind decades of stories that represent it only as a traumatised continent, rather than one with its own complications and kingdoms. The American director presents the kingdom of Dahomey as a splendour of colour, especially in the opulence of the king’s court. But in finding this African decadence, it’s never forgotten that imperialist wealth comes at a moral cost, one that the film spends its running time figuring out. It wrestles with its admiration of an affluent kingdom and a female-led warrior class — as well as the uglier realities of how that wealth is earned.

Prince-Bythewood invokes historical epics like Braveheart and The Last Of The Mohicans in her depiction of Dahomey’s all-woman kingsguard, the Agojie, also known as the Dahomey Amazons — or, as per a Portuguese slaver, “the bloodiest bitches in Africa” — and their fight against the larger Oyo Empire of Yoruba. The romanticism of those films is echoed by Prince-Bythewood, still interested in intimacy even as the scale of her storytelling expands. Her last film, The Old Guard , unspooled a romance over millennia; The Woman King finds its love stories — platonic, familial and romantic — drawn across ethnic and national fault-lines.

The choreography is thrillingly brawny, set-pieces mounted with lean ferocity.

Those stories act as counterweights to some surprisingly brutal action. The choreography is thrillingly brawny and efficient, set-pieces mounted with lean ferocity. The Woman King doesn’t reserve spectacle only for fights, either, depicting the community’s ceremonial songs and dances with thrilling verve. The film craft here is gorgeous, the make-up and costume design lush and detailed; they draw focus to the physiques of the warrior women, the sight of their shoulders and backs celebrating martial prowess as much as beauty.

The movie has a lot on its mind. There are lyrical sequences involving music and movement. There are also moments in which European slavers are being beaten to death with their own chains. To its credit, it largely holds off presenting Dahomey uncritically as the one good empire. Structural imbalance and patriarchy are still prevalent within the kingdom’s walls. Dana Stevens’ screenplay wrestles with the kingdom’s complicity in the selling of slaves to Europe and America, which they trade for wealth, luxuries, weapons and military power. That carries through into some satisfyingly revisionist wish-fulfilment, where King Ghezo ( John Boyega ) and his Agojie realise the evil of slavery, and combat it and colonialist manipulation in search of Pan-African unity. The Oyo come to represent the opposite: the evil of collaborating with the slave trade, the myopic route to power that Dahomey has a responsibility to fight.

There are a few missteps. The script follows some predictable trajectories for its characters and slows in the middle, before rushing into its final act. Terence Blanchard’s score, too, threatens to undermine the quieter moments with overwrought schmaltz (a shame, given the composer’s usual handle on drama).

Thankfully, such moments are held together by emotional authenticity from the cast. As the steely-eyed leader Nanisca, Viola Davis convincingly demonstrates the power to silence a room with a withering glance. (Would you expect anything less?) But the film's revelation is how her simmering performance gradually offers reminders of a stolen youth, her tragedy revealed through restraint rather than melodramatic showiness. Sheila Atim and Thuso Mbedu , meanwhile — both standouts in Barry Jenkins’ The Underground Railroad adaptation — give the material gravitas, even as it steps to more melodramatic narrative beats. As she was in that series, Mbedu (a co-lead with Davis here) is simply magnetic, while Atim feels like the most natural presence, fully lived-in but memorable even at the film’s margins. Lashana Lynch is also a delight to watch, incredibly funny and mischievous, brimming with earned confidence. And Boyega is just as riveting as King Ghezo, a compelling mixture of youthful indecision and royal authority. Each actor is given the space to develop a rich sense of interiority.

These impressive performances certainly help to smooth over any cracks; when this cast springs into battle, with such physicality and sheer charisma, The Woman King hits with an impact that’s hard to resist.

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‘The Woman King’ Sees Viola Davis as a Historical Warrior

Davis commands the screen (in more ways than one) for Gina Prince Bythewood’s stirring epic of battle and bonding.

Viola Davis stars in 'The Woman King.'

Releasing in theaters on September 16th, ‘ The Woman King ’ feels like a throwback to the sort of historical drama that is rarely made by studios these days.

And, indeed, one that has almost never been made by and about people who look like Viola Davis , Lashana Lynch , Thuso Mbedu , Sheila Atim and the vast majority of the cast for the film itself.

Gina Prince Bythewood , who last directed ‘ The Old Guard ' (a more fantastical tale of an immortal female warrior leading her similarly long-lived squad), here brings real power and emotion to the based-on-truth story of an African kingdom in the 19th century that could serve as the template for a more progressive and egalitarian society today.

Davis stars as Nanisca, the Miganon, or general of the Agojie, the fearsome, all-female unit of warriors who defended the Kingdom of Dahomey (an area of the African continent now known as Benin) and its ruler, the freshly installed King Ghezo ( John Boyega ).

(L to R) Viola Davis and John Boyega star in 'The Woman King.'

This is a time when the slave trade is at its height, European cultures running their economies on the back of trading humans. And Dahomey is not innocent in that – the kingdom has seen its own financial wellbeing dependent on selling the prisoners it captures in battle. Nanisca, though, the scars of her own imprisonment from years ago still clear in body and mind, is pushing for change, arguing that their society can benefit more from the trade in palm oil and other goods than human lives.

Mostly, though, she’s busy commanding Dahomey’s forces, protecting its citizens from the forces of neighboring tribes, who have forged their own ties with slavers.

Yet our way into this powerful fighting force – and the story itself – is via Mbedu’s Nawi, a forthright and headstrong young woman whose father has given up all hope of marrying off (particularly after she puts her latest, rude, wealthy suitor squarely in his place) and decides to hand her over to the king.

Nawi, fascinated by the Agojie, instead opts to become a recruit, looking to show she has what it takes to join this elite force. Which means she’s soon under the tutelage of Izogie (Lynch), a chief lieutenant whose stern sergeant major manner belies a witty, caring side.

(L to R) Viola Davis and Lashana Lynch with young recruits in 'The Woman King.'

Davis is, as befits her career to date and her Oscar-winning status, is magnetic and stern in her role, but, in combination with Bythewood and Dana Stevens ’ script, finds real vulnerability in her role. There’s more to Nanisca than simply scowling and fighting, coming across as a rounded woman dealing with the challenges of her time period.

But right there with her are Lynch, Mbedu and Sheila Atim, the other key figures of the movie, whose characters are all well-rounded. Lynch, best known for ‘ Captain Marvel ’ and as the sly new 007 in ‘ No Time To Die ’ is excellent as Izogie, a woman with no time for weakness and a love for whiskey, but who also shows other sides of herself.

Carrying her fair share of the dramatic weight, Mbedu (a veteran of Barry Jenkins’ ‘The Underground Railroad’) also shines, making sure that her character never comes across as instantly perfect at everything she does – it’s a hard road from wide-eyed newcomer to battle-hardened warrior.

Then you have Atim, who got so little to do in films such as ‘ Pinocchio ’ and ‘ Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ’ really getting her teeth into the role of Amenza, Nanisca’s closest friend, aide and spiritual adviser, the person who can truly confront her when necessary. She’s far from the stock character of this sort in historical drama, making Amenza feel alive and human.

(L to R) Thuso Mbedu, Lashana Lynch, and Shelia Atim in 'The Woman King.'

John Boyega has less to do as the King, but he’s entertaining in his scenes, proving to be commanding when the role requires and thoughtful at other times.

Bythewood infuses almost every scene with verve and energy, though she can’t quite make all the elements work. A half-baked, non-starter of a romantic connection between Mbedu and Jordan Bolger ’s Malik, born to a Dahomey mother and a white father who grew up in Europe and returns in the company of his best friend Santo ( Hero Fiennes Tiffin ), who has inherited a slave operation and is learning how to run it. That subplot ultimately ties into the rest of the story but never feels as authentic as the rest, more a Hollywood concoction than something drawn from truth.

More effective (but still not up to quite the standard of the movie as a whole) is a surprise revelation for two of the characters that we won’t spoil. But suffice to say it’s soapier than it might have needed to be.

The movie really comes alive when Davis and co. are in battle, the clashes pushing the PG-13 rating to its limit (though still more bloodless than the violent stabbing, slashing and shooting might suggest), and the cast fully commit to the action, working alongside some extremely adept stunt performers to make sure that Nanisca, Izogie and the rest are exactly as brutal and efficient on the battlefield as you might expect.

Nanisca has some demons she needs to confront, literally in one case when she faces off against Jimmy Odukoya ’s misogynistic and cruel Oba Ade, commander of the forces from the nearby Oyo Empire, who is her nemesis and one of the only people who can actually stand up to her in battle. Odukoya is a vital, dangerous force in the film, more than just a simple villain.

Vibrant and full of passion, ‘The Woman King’ might not have the same multimedia appeal of, say, ‘ Black Panther ’, but it deserves to do well, telling a story that many people won’t have heard and bringing a unique aspect to the genre.

‘The Woman King’ receives 4 out of 5 stars.

(L to R) Lashana Lynch, Viola Davis, Shelia Atim, Sisipho Mbopa, Lone Motsomi, Chioma Umeala in 'The Woman King.'

The Woman King

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Woman King, The (Canada/United States, 2022)

Once upon a time in motion pictures, the historical epic was a popular genre – big, sprawling stories featuring larger-than-life characters splashed across a wide screen. The best of these often deviated wildly from the facts that formed their foundations, but that didn’t matter. Some won Oscars; others didn’t. In the former category, Braveheart and Gladiator come to mind. In the latter, The Last of the Mohicans . I’m not mentioning these by accident – director Gina Prince-Bythewood has cited them as inspirations for The Woman King . And, although her modern-day retelling of 1820s incidents doesn’t soar to the heights of that trio, it’s a welcome arrival in a climate where comic book and horror movies have choked out almost everything else like weeds in a once-fertile garden.

It takes a little patience to get into The Woman King . The movie opens with nearly 50 minutes of setup – introducing the characters, establishing the setting, and proving background for the impending conflict. Some of this is heavy-lifting and, although generally inspired by events on the African continent during the early 19 th century, it is not historically accurate (nor does it pretend to be). Just as Mel Gibson took considerable liberties in bringing the tale of William Wallace to the screen in Braveheart , so Prince-Bythewood and her screenwriter, Dana Stevens (working from a story that Stevens co-developed with actress Maria Bello), have relied on a heavily fictionalized account of what happened when the state of Dahomey revolted against the Oyo Empire in a bid for freedom, with the Agojie (the name for the all-female King’s guard) at the forefront of the conflict.

The strength of the movie lies more in the performances than the storyline, although the screenplay is carefully constructed to provide its share of old-fashioned, crowd-pleasing moments. This is one of those films when standing up and cheering is, if not encouraged, at least accepted. It thrives on emotional catharses and offers more than one of the “big” instances. Those interludes work primarily because the filmmakers lean on the talents of lead actress Viola Davis and newcomer Thuso Mbedu. Making her motion picture debut, Mbedu gives a performance of impressive physicality and emotional range. (She’s 31 years old but credibly plays someone more than a decade younger.) She holds her own alongside the titanic presence of Davis, whose seemingly cold exterior hides a plethora of conflicting emotions that are always percolating just under the surface. The connection between these two is strong, immediate, and believable – a crucial ingredient of the alchemy that allows The Woman King to work during the times when the brutality of two significant engagements isn’t filling up the screen.

There’s arguably more here than can possibly be contained within the 135-minute package; one can see an entire streaming series developing around the movie, fleshing out aspects of Dahomey, the royal court politics, and the intricacies of life within the Agojie. Many of the characters might have longer, more fully fleshed-out arcs. But what Prince-Bythewood provides is more than enough for a rousing motion picture filled with well-choreographed battle scenes effectively folded into stories of human interest.

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‘Shirley’ Review: A Woman Who Contained Multitudes

This staid biopic of Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman elected to the U.S. Congress, is less interested in what she did than what she represented.

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By Devika Girish

Shirley Chisholm was an American heroine who challenged simplistic political narratives of victory and defeat. Though her most famous effort — her bid for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in 1972 — wasn’t successful, it was one chapter in a life’s worth of grit and innumerable wins, only a few of which can be measured by votes or contests.

She was the working-class daughter of Caribbean immigrants who achieved academic excellence despite financial struggles; an educator who advocated powerfully the rights of children, particularly those from immigrant backgrounds; a self-made politician who, at the local and state levels, fought successfully for better representation for women and minorities; and, in 1968, the first Black woman elected to the U.S. Congress.

It is a pity, then, that “Shirley,” John Ridley’s new biopic starring Regina King, focuses rather narrowly on Chisholm’s failed presidential campaign. The film reaches for the urgency of a political thriller, jumping between campaign meetings, backroom negotiations and rousing speeches. But the staid visuals — bright period colors softened by a nostalgic glow — and a script made up of a string of losses convey a dull sense of a fait accompli.

Complex, meaningful events from Chisholm’s life and career become reductive paving stones in a despairing story of ill-timed ambition. An early scene, set soon after her election to Congress, shows her railing against her appointment to the Agriculture Committee and convincing the speaker of the House to reassign her. No mention is made of the fact that she served for two years on the committee, and found a way to use her position to expand the food stamp program.

The problem is that “Shirley” is interested less in what Chisholm actually did than in what she represented, as a Black woman daring to see herself as the leader of the nation. At home, Chisholm struggles to maintain her relationships with her husband and her sister, who resent the self-absorption her career requires. Her advisers (played suavely by Terrence Howard and Lance Reddick) clash with her over her unwillingness to take partisan stances; younger, more radical supporters dislike her liberalism; and in public, she receives both support and racist, sexist barbs.

King is magnetic onscreen, nailing Chisholm’s accent and her steely persona. But there is little for her to do other than trade quips with the other characters, in a drama that is too content with telling rather than showing.

Shirley Rated PG-13 for discomfiting depictions of misogynoir. Running time: 1 hour 57 minutes. Watch on Netflix.

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Two ancient titans, Godzilla and Kong, clash in an epic battle as humans unravel their intertwined origins and connection to Skull Island's mysteries. Two ancient titans, Godzilla and Kong, clash in an epic battle as humans unravel their intertwined origins and connection to Skull Island's mysteries. Two ancient titans, Godzilla and Kong, clash in an epic battle as humans unravel their intertwined origins and connection to Skull Island's mysteries.

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‘Shirley’ review: Regina King shines in Netflix’s Shirley Chisholm biopic

She was, according to her motto (and the title of her autobiography), “unbought and unbossed.” Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman elected to Congress, was an American hero; it’s right that we see her, in the opening scenes of the engrossing Netflix biopic “Shirley,” wearing a cape. She made a career out of breaking down doors, refusing to fall in line and accept the status quo, reminding people that change was possible. In 1968, when Chisholm was first elected to the House of Representatives, there were 435 members: 11 were women, five were Black men, and none were Black women. Now there are more than two dozen — including Rep. Barbara Lee of California, who we see in “Shirley” as a young activist and protege of Chisholm’s. She’s played by Christina Jackson but makes an appearance at the end of the film as herself — a moving reminder of progress and time.

“Shirley,” starring Regina King in the title role, focuses almost entirely on a few months in 1972, when Chisholm made her historic run for the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party — the first woman and first Black person to do so. I found myself wishing that “Shirley” gave us a little more of the pre-politics Chisholm (she was in her 40s when first elected to Congress, and her past work as a teacher is barely mentioned in the film). But what we do get is fascinating: a series of moments in history between Chisholm, her staff, her opponents (there’s a remarkable scene, not invented for the film, in which Chisholm visits the segregationist George Wallace in the hospital and prays with him) and her family. Chisholm’s personal relationships get somewhat short shrift — the change of heart by Shirley’s initially disapproving sister (played by King’s real-life sister Reina King, who’s also a producer of the film) feels a bit rushed, and Chisholm’s marriage is likewise not examined. But the film, directed by John Ridley, takes the time to let real-person details emerge (Chisholm, apparently, loved McDonald’s food), and to get to know the woman at its center.

Regina King, also a producer of the film, is an inspired choice for the role, and her Shirley is made up of endless strength, kindness and courage. King lets us see the weariness that comes with being the person going first, and the fear that comes late at night, staring alone into a hotel mirror, her gaze becoming ever more intent. And she lights up particularly around young people, inspiring them — like Lee, or her college-age youth coordinator Robert Gottlieb (Lucas Hedges) — to try what seems impossible, to make change from within, to hear her words of wisdom: “You just don’t have to accept things as they are.”

3 stars (out of 4)

MPA rating: PG-13 (for strong language including racial slurs, brief violence and some smoking)

Running time: 1:55

How to watch: Netflix

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Regina King is steely and disarmingly frank in Shirley, but one big thing lets this historical biopic down 

Shirley Chisholm may have been the first Black congresswoman in the United States, and the first one to mount a history-making campaign to become its president, but at no point in the film Shirley do we see moments of doubt or indecision plague her.

This, in itself, feels significant. So many around her, down to her coterie of closest advisors and her husband, were unsure of her ability to realise her ambitions, but Chisholm herself never was. It's this lack of insight into any aspect of Chisholm's personhood – her fears, her dreams, her foibles – that lets this biopic down.

The film opens with Chisholm having already won her seat in the House of Representatives, one of the few specks of colour in a sea of white faces. We don't see the crucial moments preceding this election, like the political awakening that led a Brooklyn schoolteacher on the path to becoming a Democratic candidate.

What director John Ridley (the writer of 12 Years a Slave) instead focuses on is what came after: Chisholm's 1972 campaign to become president, making her the first woman to ever run for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Flanked by her husband Conrad (played with a quiet precision by Michael Cherrie) and a trio of advisors — Wesley 'Mac' Holder (showcasing the regal dignity of Lance Reddick in one of his last performances), fundraiser Arthur Hardwick (an underutilised Terrence Howard) and budding white lawyer Robert Gottlieb (played affectingly by Lucas Hedges in an affirming illustration of allyship) — Chisholm goes for the jugular.

Coiffed in her trademark sculptural bouffant and enunciating in Bajan-accented English, Regina King plays Chisholm with a steely boldness that never abates and a disarming frankness bordering on naivety, that is especially pronounced compared to the wily machinations of those around her.

Chisholm refuses to doctor or dilute her message regardless of where in America she is, and her popularity rises meteorically as she articulates a collective vision for everyone regardless of their race, colour, creed or sex.

The early 70s of Chisholm's presidential run is magnificently evoked. The Vietnam War has its staunch opponents, President Nixon's popularity is ebbing, the divisive practice of desegregation busing is rife, and the election for which Chisholm is seeking a presidential nomination is the first one where people aged between 18 and 21 can vote.

A sense of change is in the air — could it be that America has reconciled with its dark history of slavery and dispossession and is ready to elect its first Black woman president?

History shows us the change Chisholm was seeking didn't materialise in 1972, and is yet to be achieved some 52 years later. But it wasn't for naught. Chisholm continued to champion social reforms and empower those around her and those who came after her. As King utters emphatically, "We had something, maybe just for a second."

Archival footage is interspersed throughout the film — often a damning indictment of the uphill battle Chisholm was fighting. Notable is the clip of Gloria Steinem backing her, but saying competitor George McGovern is the "best white male candidate" in the running for the Democratic nomination.

Ramsey Nickell's camera work is striking in its fixation on specificities — a riposte to the film's broad brushstrokes.

In the aftermath of Chisholm almost being stabbed by a crazed racist, the camera zeroes in on her hands firmly intertwined in anxiety. When she visits arch-segregationist governor George Wallace in hospital after he's been shot, her hands are clasped with his; even though they have opposing viewpoints, they are both faced with the perils of being a public figure.

Shirley shines when the focus is on the particularities of Chisholm's life. There are the fissures of her marriage to a man who's relegated to being her shadow; the cracks in her relationship with her sister (played by King's real-life sister Reina), which stand in stark contrast to the adoration Chisholm garners from her fanbase; her appeals to young Black women who see voting as a bourgeois exercise — one that's traditionally excluded them from having a seat at the table; and the sexism she faces from Black men as much as white men, which finds its nexus in the supercilious delegate Walter Fauntroy (a charismatic André Holland).

Chisholm's race to amass enough delegates at the Democratic National Convention to win the party's nomination for president lends the film much of its urgency. But by homing in on the backroom politicking, in-fighting, tactical decisions and fraught practice of preferencing, the film risks becoming too granular, with a staid script that falters in key moments. Crucial moments like the Black Panthers' eventual endorsement of Chisholm feel rushed.

It's a mammoth task to capture the essence of a larger-than-life historic figure like Shirley Chisholm in two hours.

By focusing on a slice of Chisholm's legacy, Shirley could've functioned as a synecdoche – the story of her nomination bid conveying deep truths about being an ambitious, socially progressive Black woman in the 70s.

Instead, it's a rather rote retelling of a near-historic achievement, one that doesn't tell us nearly enough about the woman at the centre of it all.

Shirley is streaming on Netflix.

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