X
- 2019
- R
- Neon
- 1 h 52 m
- 2019
- R
- Neon
- 1 h 52 m
Summary Years of carrying out death row executions have taken a toll on prison warden Bernadine Williams (Alfre Woodard). As she prepares to execute another inmate, Bernadine must confront the psychological and emotional demons her job creates, ultimately connecting her to the man she is sanctioned to kill.
Directed By: Chinonye Chukwu
Written By: Chinonye Chukwu
- 2019
- R
- Neon
- 1 h 52 m
- 2019
- R
- Neon
- 1 h 52 m
Clemency
77
6.6
Where to Watch
Summary Years of carrying out death row executions have taken a toll on prison warden Bernadine Williams (Alfre Woodard). As she prepares to execute another inmate, Bernadine must confront the psychological and emotional demons her job creates, ultimately connecting her to the man she is sanctioned to kill.
Directed By: Chinonye Chukwu
Written By: Chinonye Chukwu
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 32 Critic Reviews
77
91% Positive
29 Reviews
29 Reviews
9% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 32 Critic Reviews
77
91% Positive
29 Reviews
29 Reviews
9% Mixed
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
This is a film with an unforgettable story and performances that will edge into your DNA.
Chukwu maintains an impressive command over her material, but Woodard herself becomes the movie’s central storyteller.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 32 User Ratings
6.6
66% Positive
21 Ratings
21 Ratings
25% Mixed
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
9% Negative
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 32 User Ratings
6.6
66% Positive
21 Ratings
21 Ratings
25% Mixed
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
9% Negative
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
This is a perfectly crafted social drama. An almost clinical treatment of the death penalty, showing the psychological damage on all those involved, challenging the audience's ability to react and finding empathy on all sides. Excellent management of silences and tension. The performances are incredible. Alfre Woodard does something monumental in the final minutes.
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There have already been films that put the debatable issue of the death penalty on the table; what breathes fresh air into this film are the performances by Woodard and Hodge, which are absorbing enough.
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Above all else, Clemency is a supreme actors’ showcase, backed by a director of fine-tuned emotional intelligence and a cinematographer who understands the depth and beauty of black skin tones.
It’s a sterling piece of American realism, powered by the transfixing spectacle of a great actor at the peak of her powers.
Clemency, which won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, isn’t really a death row drama in the same way that “Just Mercy” is. Rather, it’s a character study of a witness who, vicariously, is a stand-in for each of us.
Clemency is a thoroughly draining experience as if we’re placed in purgatory with no means of escape, but it’s ultimately powerful in the ways it shows how the death penalty has consequences for everyone involved.
Clemency is a film that is just almost great. The level of restraint Chukwu has in her writing and execution, while admirable, is the very thing that prevents it from truly soaring.
There is no doubt that Alfre Woodard is the star of "Clemency" as the warden, Bernadine Williams, who oversees the execution of prisoners but Aldis Hodge as Anthony Woods is a prisoner convicted of killing a police officer and serving 15 years is going to be executed that gives her some stiff competition, especially in their scenes together.
Capital punishment is looked at from all angles starting with an execution going wrong and reflected in the face of Woodard. We hear from the mother of the dead policeman, Vernee Watson, and the crowds outside protesting the execution. We meet Williams's husband, played by Wendell Pierce, and we are shown how his wife's job is affecting their marriage, not to forget Danielle Brooks as Evette, Woods's high school girlfriend at the time he was arrested, distancing herself from him for the 15 years. Another point of view comes from Richard Schiff as a lawyer who believes Woods is innocent and the religious point of view, as the prison's chaplain, is expressed by Michael O'Neill.
From the opening shot of Alfre Woodard supervising the execution that goes wrong to another shot focused on her face as she walks through the halls of the prison the actress, this is not an easy picture to watch. Chinoye Chukwu wrote the screenplay and directed the movie with a hard to see opening segment that draws you into the movie but at the same time using Woodward's face to show what this woman goes through every time someone is executed!
Alfre Woodard will hopefully be remembered at the end of the year when award season starts and we should be seeing more of Aldis Hodge as a leading man.
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A must see, slow-moving powerhouse. Excellent performances all around. Slight B-movie feel with at least a golden globe impact. Alfre Woodard is great. Aldis is another good performance. Hats off. Only found this in one theater in NY (Kips Bay) and traveled to it with an entourage and could not be happier about the decision.
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The devastating opening execution sequence sets the tone for a absorbing and relentlessly dark drama. Alfre Woodard plays a prison warden who's about to oversee her 12th execution. This film examines how it affects her professional and personal life. With Woodard in the lead, you can expect a moving performance and she delivers. Writer/director Chinonye Chukwu takes a pared down approach, which means the pace is deliberate and the observations are restrained. It's less about the injustice of a wrongful conviction than Just Mercy (my review) and more about the significant toll that state execution takes on those affected.
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I saw this a couple of days ago and I can't remember a light moment in it, though I think there was one. Slow, sad, you get a sense of creep towards something bad inexorably. Not even much drama, but it has soul, if only to watch it wither. Well done, worth watching, but as I said to my family immediately afterwards, "you're left with nothing but the realization that the death penalty ****. You can't escape that, even if you're for it."
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Slow, slow, politically biased movie with questionable scenarios. Couldn't even watch past 45 minutes. Why is a prison warden all of a sudden upset over the death penalty? Why in the world would they have some hack doctor be botching an execution? Why should we be meant to feel that a self confessed cop killer is the victim. And why are all the people working at the prison a bunch of drunks in a local bar. Give me a break. This is one of the worst, contrived, movies I've seen in a while.
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Production Company
ACE Pictures Entertainment,
Bronwyn Cornelius Productions,
Big Indie Pictures
Release Date Dec 27, 2019
Duration 1 h 52 m
Rating R
Genres
Website
https://neonrated.com/
Awards
Black Reel Awards
• 7 Nominations
Film Independent Spirit Awards
• 3 Nominations
Women Film Critics Circle Awards
• 2 Nominations
