The Woman King Review: All hail Viola Davis and Gina Prince-Bythewood

Viola Davis should be the frontrunner for best actress at the Academy Awards after another powerful performance in The Woman King.

Davis is incredible, but The Woman King is far from a one-woman show. Set in the kingdom of Dahomey in West Africa, the Agojie are an all-female unit of warriors led by Davis’s Nanisca. After a suspenseful night raid of a village, Nawi becomes the proxy to this world. She refuses to take a much older man as a husband set up by her father. As a result, he sends her to the palace to be one of King Ghezo’s wive. Izogie played by Lashana Lynch takes Nawi under her ring as the Agojie train a bunch of new recruits to prepare for a potential battle against the Oyo Empire.

Lynch is endlessly charismatic as Izogie and Thuso Mbedu should be a star after this stirring performance as Nawi. Sheila Atim also shines as Nanisca’s closest confidant. Rounding out the cast is John Boyega as Ghezo. A king who is all bark and no bite.

The script is a bit of a mixed bag. The dialogue is terrific. Full of poignancy and actually some pretty great humor as well. The Woman King does get bogged down by too many stories. The family delves into the messy nature of selling humans. Even Dahomey sells prisoners to Europe. To be fair, it’s a practice Nanisca wants to end in favor of other sources of income.

There’s a subplot involving Nanisca’s daughter, who she gave up after being raped by the Oyo Empire’s general. Also, there’s a forbidden romance subplot between Malik and Nawi. Malik is a mixed raced man whose mother was from Dahomey. He boards a slave ship to see his mother’s home.

The romance subplot is easily the weakest aspect of the film. Malik even saves Nawi at one point after she joins the Agojie. Having a man save a woman in this film seems against The Woman King‘s message.

In spite of too many subplots, Gina Prince-Bythewood is sensational behind the camera. The action set pieces are fantastic and spread out well throughout the film. Basically, there’s a battle in each act. The Woman King is much more focused on what makes these women warriors. The incredible cast is more than up to the task.

With the overview out of the way, let’s take a deeper journey into the kingdom of Dahomey. There may be some minor spoilers. The Woman King is in theaters now.

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Introduction to Dahomey

Outside of the palace walls, the Agojie are essentially worshipped. In the fact, the villagers aren’t even allowed to gaze upon them. Although, some of the Agojie, Izogie in particular, make light of this practice.

Nawi is being forced by her adopted father to marry a much older man. She scoffs at this request and pushes the man down. Her father drops Nawi off at the palace door to be used for whatever purpose the king wants.

Once inside the palace, Izogie takes Nawi under her wing. Nawi joins the recruiting ranks. She’s very much like Maverick from Top Gun. Nawi consistently disobeys, talks back to Nanisca and even tries to circumvent Agojie’s vow of celibacy. She’s also exceedingly loyal to her friends, talented and a hard worker. In short, Nawi is a perfect protagonist. She’s impossible not to root for but has plenty of room to grow.

The training sequences are fun but predictable.

The Pride of The Woman King

Davis is perfect as the hardened general of the Agojie. The inclusion of a new recruit in Nawi is perfect for showing Nanisca as a great leader. There are two main ways Nanisca responds to conflicts with Nawi and King Ghezo. A razer sharper, tongue lashing that cuts to your core. The other is “the look” that pierces your soul. The kind of look that makes you feel small because you as the initiator of this conflict no nothing about what you’re talking about.

Nanisca is also battling deeper personal trauma as well. The Oyo Empire serves as the main antagonist in The Woman King. Years earlier, Nanisca was captured, beaten and repeatedly raped. She became pregnant and gave the baby up for adoption. Few actresses on the planet can internalize pain like Davis and she’s incredible.

The predictable nature of who the baby is in the present day dampens Nanisca’s story a little.

An immoral trade

The better subplot is Nanisca working as a member of Ghezo’s small council. She argues passionately for getting rid of the slave trade and using other means of trade.

The slave trade brings Malik to the Dahomey kingdom. He’s looking to reconnect with his mother’s kingdom. His father was a white slave colonist. Malik is an intriguing character, he’s just unnecessary for the film. While he’s not for the slave trade, he’s far too passive in his resistance. He doesn’t intervene until Nawi is in danger. His actions come across as more of a personal reason for helping rather than someone trying to oppose the overall slave trade.

The forbidden love story is cliche-ridden. There’s even a bathing scene in a lake where Nawi approaches a nude Malik. He also saves Nawi at one point, which seems odd. If anything, she should have been the one to save him for trying to help the slaves near the end of the film. Also, their relationship doesn’t impact Nawi’s decision at the end of the film. Malik is simply an unnecessary complication to a film that features a bevy of storylines.

The Woman King Final Thoughts

The terrific cast led by Davis and the steady hand of Prince-Bythewood behind the camera helps propel The Woman King forward as one of the top films of the year.

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