Name: Clemency
Rating: 7.0

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Clemency (2019)

2019

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Clemency (2019) Reviews & Ratings (2)

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Clemency (2019) reviews from people you don't follow

Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated

Sep 1, 2020

Heavy

Clemency- is a heavy hitter meaning the subject of the movie is heavy. Its a sad movie, but also a good movie as well. Alfre Woodard does a excellent job in this film. Her performance is fantasic and phenomenal. Its sad that 1.no one has heard of this film, 2. No one has seen this film and 3. It got no nominations at the oscars.

The plot: Bernadine Williams is a prison warden who, over the years, has been drifting away from her husband while dutifully carrying out executions in a maximum security prison. When she strikes up a unique bond with death-row inmate Anthony Woods, a layer of emotional skin is peeled back, forcing Bernadine to confront the complex-and often contradictory-relationship between good intentions, unrequited desires, and what it means to be sanctioned to kill.

Like i said its a heavy hitter with drama and suspense. Go watch it, its on Hulu.

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Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated

Nov 7, 2019

Clemency was high up on my list to see during the festival so I was slightly annoyed to not get the opportunity to see it initially... but it was day one and I was feeling bold with enthusiasm and joine the queue for last minute tickets. It's a great system if it isn't raining, and after some loitering, chatting, and spotting Wendell Pierce on his way to the cinema for the screening I managed to get a spare ticket.

Bernadine has spent years of her life dedicated to giving prisoners the chance to better themselves and live up to their potential, with the death row inmates she tries to give them respect and comfort in their last days. After an execution goes wrong the whole team is affected and with another coming closer Bernadine starts to feel the pressure.

Her life is turned upside down as she starts to interact with Anthony Woods, she can't sleep, she can't be a wife, her only real escape is drink and her colleagues. Where will everything lead her?

My main pull to this was Aldis Hodge, while I tried to avoid seeing who was in each film when I read the synopsis it was difficult on occasion and so this one zipped to my top picks list. He will always be Hardison to me but I've enjoyed seeing him in films recently.

Anthony Woods is obviously on a rollercoaster of emotions and Hodge brings out the sense of desperation his character is feeling. The swing from hope and emptiness to elation gave him several opportunities to surprise and shock us. One of those moments particularly drew a reaction from a lot of people around me and I'll touch on that in a moment.

Alfre Woodard as Warden Bernadine Williams was very powerful, subtle with her emotions when needed but as the film concludes we see an incredibly difficult moment of pain. That moment is ugly and honest, it really hits you.

The film leaves you with a few uncertain points, you can work things out from context but it never says it outright. It also allows you to slowly unfold what's going on and what's still to come.

As you know, I watch a lot (excessive amounts some might say) of movies and it's very rare from something to surprise me. A lot of things are easy to see coming, a characters's actions can show you something violent coming. There are two moments in Clemency that had the audience react much stronger that I expected, I was also surprised by the reaction of the other press delegates who I thought might be in a similar place a me. Both scenes involved blood and when everyone gasped I actually looked around and wondered how it had earned that reaction. Perhaps I wasn't as engaged with it as they were but I didn't find those moments to be gratuitous or all that shocking given the context and the nature of the scenes. It was this point that I had to ponder the thought that seeing too many films and TV shows might have a detrimental effect on my reactions to some sorts of films.

Clemency deals with some fairly heavy topics but it handles them well and in a captivating way, I've glad I managed to get to see this.

What you should do

It's a moving film and I would recommend trying to catch it.

Movie thing you wish you could take home

Another film where I probably don't need anything to take home from it.