From director Steve McQueen of 12 Years a Slave and writer Gillian Flynn of Gone Girl comes one of the year’s most powerful pieces yet. Starring Viola Davis, Elizabeth Debicki, Michelle Rodriguez, and Cynthia Erivo, Widows sees it’s leading women put into a life or death scenario set to the backdrop of political intrigue throughout the streets of Chicago. McQueen once again delivers more than what the trailers promised with a crime drama packed at every seam with engaging conflict and superb character work. Steve McQueen’s face popped up on screen before the movie started to thank audiences for seeing Widows. As it was a passion project of his ever since the years in his childhood living room. The only major issue with Widows is exactly that and it isn’t all that bad. As you can probably tell from the poster alone, Widows is loaded with characters. All of that talent is put to good use and no one feels wasted, but some of the world gets lost in the shuffle more times than it should’ve. This doesn’t make Widows a negative experience by any means, it just means that McQueen’s passion overtook him just a bit too much. Which shouldn’t be a knock against his work, but in his other films you can feel the passion, but a more focused version of that. McQueen is a calculated, inspiring, once in a generation director who is arguably the greatest mind working today, but his passion here made it feel like he didn’t want to unpack anything he brought with him to this project. Now, despite starting with the only negative takeaway, Widows is breathtakingly spectacular. Not only from Sean Bobbitt’s powerful cinematography, or Hans Zimmer’s score that leaks intimacy into every sequence, but in every single department of film-making. While his ambitions were lofty, McQueen still delivers so much raw, gleaming power into each passing scene. Frustratingly relevant social commentary provides so much depth from characters saying nothing over saying something. Many shots composed have it’s female stars’ reflection staring back at them almost as if those reflections have no idea who these grieving women have evolved into. Beyond those reflections is a city that embodies the physical, political, and financial wrongdoings towards its citizens. The men and political figures here are abusive, abrasive, lazy, or lusting after women. The women here get the power shots. The camera pans to reveal the sweating muscles of a built Cynthia Erivo laying into a punching bag, juxtaposed is an occasional shot of true American beauty. Not in dress or sensual movements, but the mental strength to overcome such complicated grief. As mentioned, the men and political figures lack stability and good mental health despite having the upper hand and all of the power. The citizens who are suffering at the hands of a city constantly taking and never giving back with an honest bone in their body have suffered more, but contain the will to be the best versions they can during such a difficult time. McQueen’s eye for the strength that lies like a sleeping dragon within battered and beaten humans is a throughline in all of his major pictures. Widows is no different, and you feel the unlimited power at McQueen’s disposal and firm understanding and empathy for people struggling the most. Widows is an intimate exploration of many different ideas, themes, and concepts that could have used a grip that was a tad tighter instead of a bit too giddy. All of the performances here draw the audience in and encapsulate so many ranging walks of life that are sure to inspire many. Widows isn’t a typical action heist film in the vein of Heat or The Town, and you shouldn’t expect such a film. Widows is a down to Earth drama full of color that occasionally bleeds over it’s thick outline that subverts genre expectations by understanding the significance of characters over action. With Widows, McQueen once again proves why he is one of Hollywood’s strongest, boldest, and most powerful voices, and there is so much more to come. Widows gets a 95/100