RogerEbert.com
Chukwu's film is further proof that great moviemaking is key to bringing audiences into profound, sombre head spaces.
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Clemency
Oscar nominee Alfre Woodard (Luke Cage) leads this death row drama as a prison warden feeling the psychological toll after years of carrying out executions. Her latest inmate, Anthony (Aldis Hodge, Hidden Figures), forces her to confront these demons.
2019112 minsUSA
Drama
- Director:
- Chinonye Chukwu ('alaskaLand')
- Writer:
- Chinonye Chukwu
- Cast:
- Alfre WoodardWendell PierceAldis HodgeRichard Schiff
Clemency / Reviews
The Guardian
Clemency's end credits arrive with relief, not because we're unengaged but because, unlike Bernadine, we're finally allowed to breathe.
Full reviewFilm Threat
Clemency is a staggering achievement in its portrayal of a story that we often ignore out of simple spite or ignorance that humanizes all angles with compassion.
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Variety
If Woodard is hoping for her overdue second Oscar nomination after 1983’s “Cross Creek,” she’s got a decent shot with this excruciating character arc. Yet, the actress is even better in the scenes where Bernadine simply gets drunk, even if she still can’t talk about anything but work.
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Los Angeles Times
[A] stark, beautifully composed drama about the implications of the death penalty.
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Hollywood Reporter
It's the humanity and compassion invested across all the principal characters that makes this contemplative examination of the terrible weight of taking a life so commanding.
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IndieWire
Chukwu maintains an impressive command over her material, but Woodard herself becomes the movie’s central storyteller.
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