Clemency
First screened in October 2019
Director: Chinonye Chukwu. Cast: Alfre Woodard, Aldis Hodge, Wendell Pierce, Richard Schiff, Richard Gunn, Michael O'Neill, LaMonica Garrett, Danielle Brooks, Alex Castillo, Vernee Watson, Dennis Haskins, Alma Martinez, Michelle C. Bonilla. Screenplay: Chinonye Chukwu. Twitter Capsule:
Room to grow, visually and stylistically. But as moral inquiry, acting and writing showcase, head/heart provocation? WOW.
Second Capsule:
What Woodard achieves here is untweetable—too complex to distill, and a level of acting I hope but don't expect to see once or twice a year.
Third Capsule:
As different as Clemency is from Dead Man Walking, they both see uncannily far into the deep, painful lives of one- or two-scene characters.
VOR:④
Not the obvious inroad to a meditation on capital punishment. Subtly unusual structure, with Anthony's story fleshed out but not quite foregrounded.
