the woman king movie review in tamil

Movie Reviews

Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors, the woman king.

Now streaming on:

From the moment Gina Prince-Bythewood became a director, her strength has always resided in her commitment to love stories. In her films, sumptuous twilight passions happen on a basketball court, they occur between generations, on the ladder rungs of show business, and between immortals. They center Black women carrying power and interiority, while finding strength within themselves, and often, other Black women. With her Netflix produced film, “ The Old Guard ,” she continued those themes on a grander scale. But nothing in her filmography can wholly prepare you for the lushness of her latest work.

In going into “The Woman King,” a big-hearted action-epic whose major challenge is being sincere and historical while fulfilling its blockbuster requirements, you might feel some hesitation. Especially in a cinematic landscape that prizes broad statements on race over sturdy storytelling. You might wonder how Prince-Bythewood can shape a tale centering the Agojie warriors—an all-woman group of soldiers sworn to honor and sisterhood—hailing from the West African kingdom of Dahomey, when one considers their hand in perpetuating the transatlantic slave trade. It’s a towering task approached by Prince-Bythewood and screenwriter Dana Stevens with gentle sensitivity, and a fierce desire to show Black women as the charters of their own destiny.

The film begins with flair: A group of men lounge at the center of a field by a campfire. They hear rustling in the tallgrass; they see a flock of birds fly away on a breeze. Suddenly a menacing Viola Davis playing Nanisca, the world-weary Agojie general, emerges from the grass armed with a machete. An entire platoon then appears behind her. The ensuing slaughter of the men (the women in the village are left unharmed), is soaked in delirious gore, and is part of this warrior ensemble’s mission to free their imprisoned kin. Nanisca, however, loses so many comrades in the process that she decides to train a new batch of recruits.

After the thrilling opening battle scene, the plot to “The Woman King” can feel convoluted. But its excesses serve the film’s blockbuster goals. A defiant teenager, Nawi ( Thuso Mbedu ), is offered up as a gift to the young King Ghezo ( John Boyega ) by her domineering father, who is frustrated with his obstinate daughter’s refusal to marry her many suitors. Nawi, however, never makes it to the King, as the unflinching yet fun warrior Izogie (a phenomenal Lashana Lynch ), sees Nawi’s resistance as a strength, and enlists her in Nanisca’s training. Being part of the Agojie promises freedom to all involved, but not to those they conquer. The defeated are offered as tribute to the draconian Oyo Empire, who then deal their fellow Africans as slaves to Europeans in exchange for guns. It’s a circle of oppression that the guilt-ridden Nanisca wants the King to break. In the meantime, a dream has haunted Nanisca, and the disobedient Nawa, who struggles with upholding some of Agojie clan’s strict requirements, particularly the "No Men" part. It might be the key to what ails her.

Despite these clunky narrative beats—there’s a twist halfway through that nearly causes the story to fall apart—the sheer pleasure of “The Woman King” resides in the bond shared by these Black women. They are the film’s love story as they commit to each other as much as they do to their grueling training. Vast compositions of Black women caring and nurturing each other proliferate “The Woman King,” and the rituals and songs they share adds further layers to their deep devotion.

Prince-Bythewood isn’t afraid to rely on emotional heft in an action movie. Every actor in this deep ensemble is granted their own space; they're organically challenged but never artificially wielded as a teaching tool for white audiences. Sheila Atim , who along with Mbedu turned in a stellar performance in Barry Jenkins ’ “ The Underground Railroad ,” is measured, aware, and giving as Nanisca’s trusted second-in-command Amenza. Boyega is commanding yet beguiling as a king projecting confidence while still learning what it means to lead (many of his line readers are instantly quotable).

“The Woman King,” however, is quite messy. The overuse of VFX for landscapes, fake extras, and fire often flattens the compositions by cinematographer Polly Morgan ; she finds greater latitude in capturing the bruising yet precise fight choreography. And the low-simmering romance that emerges between Nawa and Malik, a ripped Portuguese-Dahomen fantasy ( Jordan Bolger ) returning to discover his roots, while clear in its intent to test Nawa’s dedication to her sisters, is unintentionally comical in its awkwardness. The script far too often also tries to neatly tie together these characters, especially Nawi and Nanisca.

But when “The Woman King” works, it’s majestic. The tactile costumes by Gersha Phillips ("Star Trek Discovery") and the detailed production design by Akin McKenzie (“Wild Life” and “ When They See Us ”) feel lived in and vibrant, especially in the vital rendering of the Dahomey Kingdom, which is teeming with scenes of color and community. Terilyn A. Shropshire ’s slick, intelligent editing allows this grand epic to breathe. And the evocative score by Terence Blanchard and Lebo M. gives voice to the Agojie’s fighting spirit.

Though Davis is the movie’s obvious star, turning in an aching and psychically demanding performance that’s matched pound for pound with her interiority, Mbedu reaffirms herself as a star too. She gives herself over to the tale of a woman who so desires to be heard that she never backs down to anyone. A glimmer follows Mbedu in her every line read, and gloom follows her in devastation. There’s one scene where she cries over the body of a fallen warrior and lets out a wail with an impact that travels from your toes to your spleen.

The subplots in “The Woman King” might undo it for some. But the magnitude and the awe this movie inspires are what epics like “ Gladiator ” and “ Braveheart ” are all about. They’re meant for your heart to override your brain, to pull you toward a rousing splendor, to put a lump in your throat. In between the large, sprawling battles of "The Woman King," and in between the desire to not yield to white outside forces and the urge to topple oppressive and racist systems, the guide is sisterly love, Black love. Thrilling and enrapturing, emotionally beautiful and spiritually buoyant, “The Woman King” isn’t just an uplifting battle cry. It’s the movie Prince-Bythewood has been building toward throughout her entire career. And she doesn’t miss.

This review was filed from the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10th. "The Woman King" opens on September 16th.

Robert Daniels

Robert Daniels is an Associate Editor at RogerEbert.com. Based in Chicago, he is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association (CFCA) and Critics Choice Association (CCA) and regularly contributes to the New York Times , IndieWire , and Screen Daily . He has covered film festivals ranging from Cannes to Sundance to Toronto. He has also written for the Criterion Collection, the Los Angeles Times , and Rolling Stone about Black American pop culture and issues of representation.

Now playing

Sheila O'Malley

Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead

Peyton robinson.

Veselka: The Rainbow on the Corner at the Center of the World

Brian tallerico.

Blood for Dust

Matt zoller seitz.

Christy Lemire

We Were the Lucky Ones

Film credits.

The Woman King (2022)

Rated PG-13 for sequences of strong violence, some disturbing material, thematic content, brief language and partial nudity.

135 minutes

Viola Davis as Nanisca

Thuso Mbedu as Nawi

Lashana Lynch as Izogie

Sheila Atim as Amenza

John Boyega as King Ghezo

Hero Fiennes Tiffin as Santo Ferreira

Jayme Lawson

Gina Prince-Bythewood

Writer (story by)

Maria Bello
Dana Stevens

Cinematographer

Polly Morgan
Terilyn A. Shropshire
Terence Blanchard

Latest blog posts

Dear Tim Cook: Be a Decent Human Being and Delete this Revolting Apple Ad

The Problem and the Solution: Why Palpatine from Star Wars is One of the Great Movie Villains

A Good Reason to Be a Coward: Jim Cummings on The Last Stop in Yuma County

Launch Day for My Book, It's Time To Give a FECK! Book Tour Dates, Tamron Hall Show

Log in or sign up for Rotten Tomatoes

Trouble logging in?

By continuing, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes.

Email not verified

Let's keep in touch.

Sign up for the Rotten Tomatoes newsletter to get weekly updates on:

Upcoming Movies and TV shows
Trivia & Rotten Tomatoes Podcast
Media News + More

By clicking "Sign Me Up," you are agreeing to receive occasional emails and communications from Fandango Media (Fandango, Vudu, and Rotten Tomatoes) and consenting to Fandango's Privacy Policy and Terms and Policies . Please allow 10 business days for your account to reflect your preferences.

OK, got it!

Movies / TV

No results found.

What's the Tomatometer®?
Login/signup

Movies in theaters

Opening this week
Top box office
Coming soon to theaters
Certified fresh movies

Movies at home

Fandango at Home
Netflix streaming
Prime Video
Most popular streaming movies
What to Watch New

Certified fresh picks

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Link to Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
The Fall Guy Link to The Fall Guy
I Saw the TV Glow Link to I Saw the TV Glow

New TV Tonight

Doctor Who: Season 1
Dark Matter: Season 1
The Chi: Season 6
Reginald the Vampire: Season 2
Bodkin: Season 1
Blood of Zeus: Season 2
Black Twitter: A People's History: Season 1
Pretty Little Liars: Summer School: Season 2
Hollywood Con Queen: Season 1
Love Undercover: Season 1

The Woman King

Where to watch.

Watch The Woman King with a subscription on Netflix, rent on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, or buy on Fandango at Home, Prime Video.

What to Know

All hail Viola Davis! The Woman King rules.

With a fantastic cast and an action-packed story that also manages to be meaningful, The Woman King makes it reign.

Critics Reviews

Audience reviews, cast & crew.

Gina Prince-Bythewood

Viola Davis

Thuso Mbedu

Lashana Lynch

Sheila Atim

Hero Fiennes Tiffin

Santo Ferreira

Movie Clips

More like this, movie news & guides, this movie is featured in the following articles..

Supported by

Critic’s Pick

‘The Woman King’ Review: She Slays

Viola Davis leads a strong cast into battle in an epic from Gina Prince-Bythewood, inspired by real women warriors.

Share full article

By Manohla Dargis

The kinetic action adventure “The Woman King” is a sweeping entertainment, but it’s also a story of unwavering resistance in front of and behind the camera. The ascendancy of women filmmakers over the past decade is one of the great chapters in movie history, and as women have fought their way back into the field, they have also taken up space — on screens and in minds — long denied them. Their canvases are again as expansive as their desires.

Certainly one of the most expansive of these canvases is “The Woman King,” a drama about the real women soldiers of the precolonial Kingdom of Dahomey in West Africa. Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, the movie is filled with palace intrigues, sumptuous ceremonies and stirring battles, and features, as golden-age Hollywood liked to brag, a cast of thousands (or thereabouts!). Yet while it evokes the old-fashioned spectacles the studios habitually turned out long before Marvel, there is no precedent for this one.

The story, as moviemakers also like to say, is “inspired” by real events, which in this case are mind-blowing. The tale is rooted in the women warriors of Dahomey whose exact origins remain obscured by tribal myths and oral traditions as well as the obviously biased, self-serving and at times contradictory accounts of European observers. It’s thought that the warriors emerged in the 17th century, and were part of a heavily female social organization that included lots of wives and his-and-her sides of the palatial compound. (The stronghold was about one-eighth the size of Central Park.)

The wives show up now and again in “The Woman King,” seated and standing in a cloud of regal hauteur. They’re lavishly coifed and luxuriously dressed, and, for the most part, passive, as inert and prettily posed as dolls waiting for someone to play with them. That would be King Ghezo, a young monarch amusingly played by John Boyega, who gives the character the nonchalant imperiousness of a very important person who doesn’t seem to do much other than the most essential thing: hold power. If Ghezo wears the crown lightly it’s only because others do his hard, dirty, sometimes murderous work.

It’s the women warriors who do much of the toughest work, and, of course, are the main attractions, which Prince-Bythewood announces at once. So, after a bit of quick, dutiful place-setting — it’s 1823 — the movie takes flight with a showy battle, a grab-you-by-the-throat entrance that gets the story going and blood flowing, yours included. Led by the battle-scarred General Nanisca (Viola Davis), the women soldiers, their bodies oiled to a high gleam, emerge like hallucinations that Prince-Bythewood makes palpably real. Suddenly, the screen fills with intense movement and by turns soaring and falling bodies.

The action scenes are visceral, and more or less rooted in the laws of physics. Even during the darkest of night, Prince-Bythewood anchors you both in the battlefield and the ensuing chaos of the fight, which tethers you visually and, by extension, strengthens the movie’s realism. Put differently, she puts you right on the ground so that you can watch these women fly. They do just that, not with superhero capes and fairy-tale enchantments, but with swords, javelins, twirling ropes and an occasional gun — as well as long, razored fingernails that scoop out enemy eyes, and thighs that crack men like walnuts.

The women are their own greatest weapons, and among everything else it addresses, “The Woman King” is about strong, dynamic Black women, their souls, minds and bodies. Prince-Bythewood frames these warriors, with their gradations of skin tones, lovingly and attentively. (The cinematographer is Polly Morgan.) You don’t need to be a scholar of old Hollywood, which divided Black performers in hierarchies of color, typecasting darker actors in servant roles, to grasp the greater implications of Prince-Bythewood foregrounding women like Davis, Sheila Atim and Lashana Lynch — it’s galvanizing.

The overstuffed story oscillates between intimate, sometimes soppy drama and world-shaking events, most profoundly in terms of the slave trade. That the Dahomey traffic in other people complicates the triumphalism of a movie that celebrates women’s power, a complexity that the story never satisfyingly engages. For the most part, the filmmakers — the script is by Dana Stevens, from a story by her and Maria Bello — navigate the political and moral thickets through Nanisca’s personal qualms about the trade, which she voices to the king, arguing that he can maintain his power more benignly.

Nanisca’s hopes and Dahomey’s future are tangled up with the schemes of the kingdom’s principal rival, the Oyo Empire (Jimmy Odukoya plays its swaggering leader), which also sells other human beings, including to the insatiable Europeans. Accurately portrayed or not, the images of the Oyo, who wear turbans wrapped around their heads and sweep in on horses, startlingly evokes the janjaweed , the mounted militiamen who beginning in the early 2000s ravaged western Sudan. The visual connection to these forces both adds to the movie’s overall sense of the past and bridges the horrors of 19th-century Africa with those of the continent’s post-colonial conflagrations.

Even as the script falters, that history and Prince-Bythewood’s direction imbue “The Women King” with an intensity that’s manifest in every fight and in the clenched faces and straining muscles of the warriors. When Nanisca rallies them before battle, thundering that they must fight or perish, it echoes the vow that it’s better to die on your feet than live on your knees. Women are taught to live on their knees, and part of what makes this film so moving is how it lays claim to a chapter in history that upends received ideas about gender even if the story is more complex than the movie suggests.

“The Woman King” drags here and there, weighted down principally by a subplot that grows more unpersuasive with each scene and involves an unruly young woman, Nawi (an appealing Thuso Mbedu), who’s dumped at the palace by her family. The character, a classic naïf who needs to be schooled and tested, is an obvious narrative contrivance that Mbedu fills in with grit and personality. In part, Nawi serves as a proxy for the audience, who follow her lead as she’s transformed into a fighter and learns from her mentor, Izogie, a ferocious warrior played by a fantastic, charismatic Lynch.

It’s disappointing that the script isn’t always up to its singular source material and Prince-Bythewood’s sure, steady direction. Certainly, if the writing were more nuanced and less bogged down by contemporary ideas about women’s roles — at one point, the movie shifts into a trauma-driven maternal melodrama — Davis would have far more to do than glower or dissolve in tears. She’s good at both, and she gives the role the steeliness it requires, but the character isn’t intricately detailed even if, when Nanisca raises her sword and rallies her women, you feel in your bones what is at stake in this fight.

The Woman King Rated PG-13 for human trafficking and battleground violence. Running time: 2 hours 6 minutes. In theaters.

Manohla Dargis has been the co-chief film critic of The Times since 2004. She started writing about movies professionally in 1987 while earning her M.A. in cinema studies at New York University, and her work has been anthologized in several books. More about Manohla Dargis

Explore More in TV and Movies

Not sure what to watch next we can help..

The Netflix stalker series “ Baby Reindeer ” combines the appeal of a twisty thriller with a deep sense of empathy. The ending illustrates why it’s become such a hit .

We have entered the golden age of Mid TV, where we have a profusion of well-cast, sleekly produced competence, our critic writes .

The writer-director Alex Garland has made it clear that “Civil War” should be a warning. Instead, the ugliness of war comes across as comforting thrills .

Studios obsessively focused on PG-13 franchises and animation in recent years, but movies like “Challengers” and “Saltburn” show that Hollywood is embracing sex again .

If you are overwhelmed by the endless options, don’t despair — we put together the best offerings on Netflix , Max , Disney+ , Amazon Prime and Hulu to make choosing your next binge a little easier.

Sign up for our Watching newsletter to get recommendations on the best films and TV shows to stream and watch, delivered to your inbox.

Skip to main content
Keyboard shortcuts for audio player

Movie Reviews

LISTEN & FOLLOW
Apple Podcasts
Google Podcasts
Amazon Music

Your support helps make our show possible and unlocks access to our sponsor-free feed.

Viola Davis is 'The Woman King' in an epic story inspired by true events

Justin Chang

Nanisca (Viola Davis) wields a sword and hacks her way through the many men who get in her way in The Woman King. Ilze Kitshoff/CTMG hide caption

Nanisca (Viola Davis) wields a sword and hacks her way through the many men who get in her way in The Woman King.

One of the more heartening Hollywood comeback stories in recent years has been the return of the director Gina Prince-Bythewood with movies like The Old Guard and now The Woman King . It had been a long wait for many of us who adored her earlier films like Love & Basketball and Beyond the Lights . As Prince-Bythewood has said in interviews, her focus on women protagonists, especially Black women protagonists, had made it hard over the years to get her projects off the ground. Fortunately, the industry is changing, and it's finally come around to recognizing her talent.

Her latest movie, The Woman King, is her most ambitious project yet, a rousingly old-fashioned action-drama, drawn from true events, about women warriors in 19th-century West Africa. The movie originated with the actor Maria Bello , who produced it and wrote the story with the film's screenwriter, Dana Stevens. It opens in 1823 in the kingdom of Dahomey, located in what is now Benin. For several centuries, this kingdom was defended by an army of women fighters called the Agojie.

Movie Interviews

'everybody deserves to be seen as a hero,' says 'old guard' director.

In the movie, the Agojie are led by the powerful General Nanisca, played by a galvanizing Viola Davis . She isn't the ruler of this kingdom — that would be the king, played by John Boyega — but given the movie's title, you suspect it's only a matter of time. The Agojie warriors are fighting the male soldiers of the Oyo Empire, who've been attacking Dahomey villages. To build up her army, Nanisca brings in a new batch of female recruits, among them an impetuous teenager named Nawi, played by Thuso Mbedu, the terrific South African star of last year's The Underground Railroad .

Much of the script centers on the growing bond — and the growing tension — between Nanisca and Nawi. As the leader of the Agojie, Nanisca insists that all her warriors follow a strict code that includes lifelong celibacy. Nawi chafes at that restriction, and her independent-mindedness often clashes with the Agojie's values of discipline and self-sacrifice. But by the end, Nawi absorbs those values and becomes a courageous fighter, honing her skills through many exciting scenes of training and competition.

The Woman King was shot on location in South Africa, and its re-creation of the Dahomey villages is so immersive — the costumes, designed by Gersha Phillips, are especially gorgeous — that it just about carries you past some of the messiness of the storytelling. To its credit, the script addresses some of the historical complexities of the situation, including the fact that Dahomey became a rich kingdom by participating in the trans-Atlantic slave trade — a practice that Nanisca wants to end. She also has a personal score to settle with the Oyo warriors, and The Woman King is sometimes a little unsteady in its mix of political plotting and emotional drama. A romantic subplot involving Nawi and a hunky European explorer feels especially tacked-on.

Nanisca may not be the most complex character Davis has played, but it's thrilling to see her take on her first major action showcase as she dons battle gear, wields a sword and hacks her way through the many, many men who get in her way. And she isn't the only one: My favorite performance in the movie comes from Lashana Lynch as Izogie, a top warrior who takes young Nawi under her wing. You might have seen Lynch squaring off with Daniel Craig's James Bond in No Time to Die , and here she manages to be funny, heartbreaking and fierce.

Prince-Bythewood has conceived The Woman King in the grand-scale tradition of epics like Braveheart and Gladiator , this time with women leading the charge. While the action doesn't rise to the same visceral intensity as in those films, it makes for an engrossing and sometimes exhilarating history lesson. I left the theater thinking about how an old civilization recognized the strength of what women could do — and how it's taken the empire of Hollywood so long to do the same.

The Woman King

Cast & crew.

Viola Davis

Thuso Mbedu

Lashana Lynch

Sheila Atim

Hero Fiennes Tiffin

Santo Ferreira

Average 7.8
Reviews 274

Information

Accessibility

Internet Service Terms Apple TV & Privacy Cookie Policy Support

Notice: All forms on this website are temporarily down for maintenance. You will not be able to complete a form to request information or a resource. We apologize for any inconvenience and will reactivate the forms as soon as possible.

DVD & Streaming

The Woman King

Action/Adventure , Drama

Content Caution

In Theaters

September 16, 2022
Viola Davis as Nanisca; Lashana Lynch as Izogie; John Boyega as King Ghezo; Thuso Mbedu as Nawi; Hero Fiennes Tiffin as Santo Ferreira; Jordan Bolger as Malik; Jimmy Odukoya as Oba Ade

Home Release Date

November 22, 2022
Gina Prince-Bythewood

Distributor

TriStar Pictures

Movie Review

Nawi wants to be happy. She wants to fit in. But in the Dahomey culture of Africa, that’s not always as easy as it sounds. For even though she’s kind and appealing, Nawi hates the idea of being sold off like a cow by her father. It seems the only value she represents is how much wealth she can bring in from a potential suitor.

From her father’s perspective, the only thing Nawi’s obstinate attitude earns is fewer chances of getting her married off. So, the tug-and-pull conflict between them continues.

But when Nawi rebuffs the last man in the area showing even the slightest interest in her, her father has had enough.

If a daughter can’t earn her family a decent dowry in the kingdom of Dahomey, many fathers—at least the uncaring ones—simply give the girl to the king. King Ghezo will then either take the girl as another wife, if she’s pretty enough. Or he’ll send her off to the Agojie. And the latter group is where Nawi heads.

In Nawi’s eyes that’s not such a bad place to be. The Agojie, you see, are women warriors. They’re esteemed. They’re feared. These women have been toughened and shaped into a terrifying fighting force that other kingdoms quake at. They slip up on foes so silently and swiftly that they’re considered shadows in the tall African grass. And their female general, Nanisca, is the hardest and sharpest shadow of them all.

Though other surrounding kingdoms, such as the Oyo, have armies that are larger and stronger, there is no force more warily watched for than the Agojie. And that’s especially true now. Because things are changing.

Slavery has been common among these African tribes and nations. Conquering enemies and selling them to white slavers is a ready source of needed income, even for Dahomey. But the well-respected Nanisca has the king’s ear, and she fears that slavery will erode them and devour their culture. The white man’s evil will soon destroy their people and everything else it touches, she believes. And it’s time to fight back.

The king agrees.

They will no longer make tributes to larger, surrounding slave trade nations. They will no longer subsist on money from slaves. They will act on Nanisca’s suggestion instead and sell palm oil to make their fortune.

It’s a bold move. An unsettling move. And it will likely upset everything in this region.

And oddly enough, a young Agojie recruit named Nawi will be central to it all. For she is the key to unlocking Nanisca’s past and the kingdom of Dahomey’s future.

Positive Elements

Both Nanisca and the king eventually realize that participating in and supporting the West African slave trade is a lose-lose proposition. For every captured Oyo enemy they sell is matched or exceeded by the captured Dohomey’s that the Oyo’s sell. So, in a sense, continuing the practice is the same as selling their own people into bondage. “Let us not be a people who sells its people,” Nanisca tells the king. “Let us save the people.”

With that understanding, they push back against the norm and fight for their people’s freedom—setting captives free and killing the white scourge that run the nearby ports.

As for the Agojie, we see these women forge loving bonds with each other. They are fierce and demanding of one another, but each woman also fights valiantly for the “sister” standing next to them. The Agojie begin offering newly captive women from other tribes a chance to either walk free or join their ranks.

Nanisca is mentally plagued by a horrible wrong that was done to her in the past. And not only do she and other Agojie strive to avenge that past wrong, but Nawi becomes a daughter-like figure who helps Nanisca heal. The two embrace.

A Brazilian mixed-race trader named Malik meets and falls in love with Nawi. He offers to take her with him to England. “My mother sent me here to find myself, and I found you,” he tells her.

Spiritual Elements

We hear references to twin gods that the people of Dahomey worship. And we see people kneeling at an altar and placing small effigies on the dead. Someone talks of the cruelty of “the gods.”

A “blood ceremony” is the last step to becoming an Agojie. It seems to be spiritual ceremony in which the Agojie all cut their arms and mingle their blood in a sacrificial bowl that’s then sacrificed to the gods. They ask that the gods make them invincible. A pair of Agojie women pour out a sacrifice of whiskey to a fallen comrade.

Malik wears a cross around his neck, but there is no other reference to his faith. Mawi gives him a god effigy to keep.

Sexual Content

Malik steps naked out of a lake and runs into Nawi who’s walking through the same wooded area. He stands before her cupping his crotch. Later, she steps out of a pool of water fully clothed, but with clinging wet fabric.

King Ghezo has a number of pretty wives. In fact, no men can be in the palace other than a male eunuch. Some of the kings’ wives wear tight-fitting, cleavage-baring outfits.

A woman talks of fighting her way to freedom after having her virginity sold by her mother. Several captive women are stripped to be washed; we see their bare backs from the waist up. A slaver weighs and fondles a female slave’s clothed breasts.

Nawi is berated for flirting with a man. She’s told that loving a man “gives away her power.”

Violent Content

There are plenty of viscerally violent moments in this film, though the heavy bloodiness is mostly hidden in the shadows or kept just outside of the camera’s view, given its PG-13 rating. We see people impaled and hacked at regularly with short swords and spears. Several people have their throats slashed. A man’s neck is snapped. People have their chests, necks, legs and crotches sliced by quick knife and sword strikes.

A woman empties a basket full of warrior’s severed heads at their leader’s feet. The Agoije sharpen their nails to razor points and slash their foes with them. We see one woman pin an opponent and drive her nails into his face (just off screen). There are dead bodies scattered around after an Agojie raid. A port city is set aflame, we see crisped and grizzled corpses.

An Agojie warrior has her arm broken; it’s twisted awkwardly at an odd angle. Then she asks for help (and the camera watches closely) as the bone is moved around under the skin and forced back into place. Someone sets a group of slaves free who immediately beat and drown their white captor.

A woman is raped—and we see it in a series of quick flashes. Later she says that she was tied down and raped repeatedly by her male captors. Nanisca has scars all over her body and a particularly large one on her back. Someone cuts open a scar on her shoulder to find a tooth that was lodged there.

We’re told that if an Agojie is caught, she will be abused until death and then left to rot. A group of young Agojie trainees have to prove their worth by climbing through a mountain of long-thorned bushes, then over tall wooden structure before giving battle to a male opponent. After this event we see a woman pulling thorns out of her many cuts.

We see slaves beaten, chained and tied up by their wrists. The Agojie display skulls of their defeated foes. A potential husband for Nawi gets angry at her and slaps her across the face. She knocks him down in return.

Crude or Profane Language

A group of women are called “b–ches.”

Drug and Alcohol Content

One of the Agojie women, Izogie, has a taste for whiskey and shares some of a flask with Nawi. She mentions that the liquor is the only good thing that the white slavers brought. We see a number of men drinking in a bar at the port.

Other Negative Elements

Hollywood isn’t really on friendly terms with history. A pic “based on true events” rarely is … true , I mean. Let’s face it, history didn’t often play out the way our modern movie-going sensibilities might have preferred: with clearly righteous, back-lit heroes calling for justice and freedom.

Often, the realities of the past are kind of muddled, ugly and far from camera ready.

So, even though the all-women fighting force of the Agojie was indeed real, they were far more of a knife-point group supplying the West African slave trade in the 1800s than feminist icons fighting against it. And their nation of Dahomey has a very ugly backstory in that regard.

Historical accuracy aside, however, if you’re looking for pure pop-entertainment fantasy then The Woman King has some positives to note.

It plays out as a character-driven, right-vs-wrong war story. Lead Viola Davis is strong and emotionally stirring. We come to care deeply for Thuso Mbedu’s character, Nawi—the movie’s true protagonist. The film has well-polished production values. And the bloodied heroes eventually drive evil from their shores with a cheer.

Of course, it’s that bloody violence and the wholesale killing at the end of this PG-13er that should give parents considering this movie the biggest reason to press pause. Because even with a heroic underscore and great lighting, this history lesson is kind of a mess.

After spending more than two decades touring, directing, writing and producing for Christian theater and radio (most recently for Adventures in Odyssey, which he still contributes to), Bob joined the Plugged In staff to help us focus more heavily on video games. He is also one of our primary movie reviewers.

Latest Reviews

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

The Fall Guy

Wicked Little Letters

Weekly Reviews Straight to your Inbox!

Dubbed Movie

Do Not Miss

Search suggestions.

The Woman King

Viola Davis

Thuso Mbedu

Lashana Lynch

Sheila Atim

John Boyega

Jordan Bolger

Hero Fiennes Tiffin

Jimmy odukoya.

Masali Baduza

Jayme Lawson

Adrienne Warren

Chioma Antoinette Umeala

Siyamthanda makakane.

Shaina West

Sivuyile Ngesi

Riaan visman, seputla sebogodi.

Angélique Kidjo

Wanda Banda

Kekole mathabathe.

Daniel Hadebe

Kgomotso moshia, zozibini tunzi.

Thando Dlomo

Julius Tennon

Pumla ndlazi.

Bonko Khoza

Boitumelo makgalemele.

Bongo Mbutuma

Kwanda tim dlamini, nhlanhla mkhwanazi, didi ledwaba, chumani pan, cebelihle mbambo, chris ncekana.

Tuks Tad Lungu

Yannick brand, nancy sekhokoane, joel mukadi.

Princess Elmore

Maria Bello

Terence Blanchard

Peter mcaleese, dana stevens, tony lamberti.

Cathy Schulman

Terilyn A. Shropshire

Gersha phillips.

Gina Prince-Bythewood

Polly Morgan

Akin mckenzie, sara bennett, christophe dalberg, kevin o’connell, jay wilkinson, birrie le roux, becky sullivan.

Hector C. Gika

Claudia dehmel, john trafford, catherine palmer, andrew morley, alysia wildman, malwande sigabi, joss flores, david sadler-coppard, francois rademeyer, alex-ann keppie, terence norman, moray mcgregor, amidou fombe tiku, chicco cardoso, michaela young, sergio lopez-rivera, babalwa carol mtshiselwa, jodi bowers, lynn paulsen, jeremy dell, tristan makka, tarryn mccann, tshepiso chikapa phiri, james collett, cindi keitumetse, lesley ann kleinhans, maiphephi moitang, tsholofelo montshiwa, giovanna perry, minke swart, catherine makgati carroll, mark o'donovan, farooq peterson.

Parris Jayaraj

The Idea of You

The Fist of The Condor

Unstoppable

The Dark Soul

The Legend Of Justice Wusong

Leave your comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Lost your password?

entertainment
'The Woman King' is a film for the rest of time: Lashana Lynch

'The Woman King' is a film for the rest of time: Lashana Lynch

Visual Stories

The life and music of Amy Winehouse, through the journey of adolescence to adulthood and the creation of one of the best-selling albums of our time. The life and music of Amy Winehouse, through the journey of adolescence to adulthood and the creation of one of the best-selling albums of our time. The life and music of Amy Winehouse, through the journey of adolescence to adulthood and the creation of one of the best-selling albums of our time.