#daniel hernandez

The Woman King is a historical action-drama set in 1823 and follows the Agojie, the real-life elite woman warriors who fought for the kingdom of Dahomey. As an action packed period drama it hits the kind of high notes of Braveheart or Gladiator. In fact director Gina Prince-Bythewood (Love & Basketball, The Secret Life of Bees, The Old Guard) said in a Hollywood Reporter interview that those movies were what she was aiming for. 

There is a cliché that I'm too basic not to use which is "the budget is all onscreen," but it's all our there for your eyes and ears to feast on. I can't recall sitting down in a theater and seeing a 19th century African kingdom and having it be presented like, this was a real, complex society but also, he's a little movie magic. We see it all the time in American or European set period-dramas. So a shot we've seen before of warriors returning to the heart of the kingdom after battle takes on a different significance when you think, I've never quite seen this before yet it is familiar.

It shouldn't feel revolutionary to see so many women as department heads when the credits roll, but when you see that cinematographer, the VFX supervisor, editor, production designer, costume designer, all great and all women; you realize it shouldn't be rare but it is. 

When Viola Davis talks about how proud she is of this, you have to see it to get what she means. The acting challenges here are intimidating. There's the technical aspect of period drama, accent, language, and singing; the athleticism of action and dance; the emotional challenge of what these women go through. It's a treat to see, and it's so much more than just exploiting their suffering for some melodrama.

I could go on and on about this cast because they have the kind of chemistry you get when you take the time to train together for filming. Sheila Atim was such a pleasant surprise in Bruised and she does a great job here. Thuso Mbedu is a triumph. Lashana Lynch as Izogie, she just shines. John Boyega plays it up as King Ghezo reckoning with the reality of enriching his people via the slave trade.

The reality of the Atlantic slave trade was that kings enriched themselves by selling people. Racists would excuse all of their hate with the fact that slavery was not solely a white, European enterprise. King Ghezo is shown as sympathetic to shifting Dahomey's economy away from the slave trade, although in reality it continued. But The Woman King knows slavery is wrong, its characters state that death is better, and the titular character spells out for the sovereign that what we're all doing is immoral and we should stop. Part of what makes this movie feel so necessary is our moment in time: yes, we need a newly released PG-13 movie that could be shown in history class pointing out that "slavery is bad." It's also the only movie I can recall that points out how anyone who wants to be rich, who gives into greed and covets gold, can be tempted into exploiting their fellow human beings for profit.