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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.

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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

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‘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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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The Woman King Reviews

There’s a certain tenderness yet mightiness with which director Prince-Bythewood choses to frame the story visually. Her exceptional direction enables an experience that is as emotionally invigorating as it is empowering and inspirational.

Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5 | Jul 25, 2024

To see Black women at the centrepiece of a Hollywood epic like this is both refreshing and extremely overdue.

Full Review | Original Score: 9/10 | Jul 12, 2024

The Woman King achieves cinematic royalty with its extremely skillful, well-crafted, and purposeful picture that tells a narrative of empowerment and humanity. It’s well-crafted from start to finish, with Davis shining in the starring role.

Full Review | Sep 26, 2023

writer Dana Stevens, story contributor Maria Bello – more known for her acting (“A History of Violence”) – and Prince-Bythewood continue an emerging cinematic trend of alternate, redemptive histories that bend toward utopianism

Full Review | Aug 16, 2023

Davis elevates this standard story with the emotion and dire she brings to her performance.

Full Review | Original Score: A- | Aug 9, 2023

For viewers who choose to focus on the adrenaline rush of the feminist warriors ready to challenge the patriarchy, The Woman King proudly wears its crown.

Full Review | Jul 27, 2023

Thuso Mbedu delivers one of the best feature film debut performances I've ever witnessed. The anti-slavery, anti-racism and equal human rights messages are well conveyed, but the authentic, emotionally resonant character dynamics stand out.

Full Review | Original Score: A- | Jul 25, 2023

While this is undoubtedly Viola Davis at her finest, the movie's breakout star is Thuso Mbedu as Nawi. It may be called The Woman King, but it's Mbedu that steals the spotlight in every frame.

Full Review | Jul 25, 2023

An instant classic, Viola Davis slays as always. Lashana Lynch is incredible, Sheila Atim is amazing, & Thuso Mbedu steals the show as the heart/soul of the entire film! Blythewood created an epic that we don’t see anymore from Hollywood.

Despite stumbles in terms of plot and pacing, The Woman King is a thrilling watch. This story, these women, and the film’s heart deserve to be seen on the biggest screen possible with an audience ready to go along for a wild ride.

Full Review | Jul 24, 2023

The movie fails to fulfil its potential except as a military action epic.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | May 17, 2023

A dazzler from Terence Blanchard’s symphonic score to Polly Morgan’s eye pleasing cinematography. Acting is A-1, particularly by Davis and Mbedu.

Full Review | Original Score: A | Apr 25, 2023

Viola Davis is a force unleashed, heading up a full-blooded tale of conflict set against the backdrop of the slave trade that offers both a twist on the traditional male-dominated warrior-epic and a look at a part of history Hollywood typically ignores

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Mar 27, 2023

Its the emotional sparring between the women - as fierce as anything on the battle ground - that really holds the attention

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Mar 17, 2023

If it had been a story about white people, it would have been a snore. But we have rarely, if ever, seen a movie quite like this one about powerful Black women, and the energy onscreen is infectious.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 13, 2023

…goes all in as a popular entertainment, rolling back the male-dominance of the action genre and replacing it with something smart, dynamic and female driven…

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 19, 2023

As these women take their place in the kingdom of Dahomey and assert their power, The Woman King truly takes on new meaning, and finds relevance in the modern era.

Full Review | Original Score: A- | Feb 10, 2023

The film is shot impeccably well, scored passionately, and gives the viewer something to savor as they leave the theater.

Full Review | Original Score: A- | Feb 8, 2023

It's not a perfect film but acting-wise - this is a masterclass. Pacing was tight and effective despite lacking in some character development. This is a really good film.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 5, 2023

The performances, action scenes and cinematography were fantastic. I think the representation of bad ass black women was incredible.

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‘The Woman King’ Is Viola Davis Kicking Ass. What More Do You Need to Know?

By David Fear

We all knew Viola Davis was an Oscar and Emmy winner, an extraordinary orator , and one of the great actors of her generation. We did not know she was a bona fide superhero, however, until Gina Prince-Bythewood gave her a proper superhero’s entrance. The first time we see the title character in The Woman King, the director’s sweeping story of female soldiers in 19th-century Africa, it’s during a rescue mission already in progress. A group of raiders have taken over a village. Women and children, soon to be sold off to slave traders, huddle in fear. There’s a rustling in the grass.

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(We hate to say that any one performer steals a movie that so doggedly works to give its ensemble so much screen time and stuff to do. Yet Lashana Lynch is most assuredly first among equals in terms of the supporting cast — Izogie is the sort of tragicomic, shoot-the-moon, standout type of role that brings out the best in the British actor, and vice versa. In every scene she’s in, Lynch radiates charisma and presence, along with a grab bag of expressions ranging from sisterly to sarcastic, while never taking the focus away from her partners in crime or the movie’s momentum. It’s the sort of performance that makes you think of, say, Kevin Kline in A Fish Called Wanda, or Marisa Tomei in My Cousin Vinny, or Joe Pesci in Goodfellas or Dianne Wiest in Bullets Over Broadway. As to what those four turns have in common? Please feel free to read between the lines, Academy voters.)

The more that Dana Stevens’ screenplay, which shares story credit with writer-actor Maria Bello, keeps adding to the narrative, the more The Woman King risks collapsing under its own weight. Yet there’s so much filmmaking A-game on display (not just Prince-Bythewood, naturally, but also composer Terence Blanchard, cinematographer Polly Morgan, production designer Akin McKenzie, costume designer Gersha Phillips) and so much Old Hollywood territory being wonderfully claim-staked that the pros far, far outweigh the cons. An Afrocentric historical epic designed to be screened as big as possible, made by a Black female filmmaker, starring a Black woman of a certain age as an action hero, telling a story that’s left out of world-history books, vying for a mass audience in the age of I.P. imperialism — these are not just qualifiers for The Woman King. They are the sounds of ceilings being shattered and, hopefully, left to rot as piles of splintered glass on the ground. If they do, it will be in no small part due to this film. See it, however, not because it’s the first of many such future projects. See it because of the high bar it sets for all movies that still want to thrill you, move you, and operate on a larger-than-life level. Nanisca isn’t the only hero here.

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The Woman King Review

An inspiring story about the female warriors of african history..

The Woman King is in theaters on Sept. 16, 2022.

The Woman King is a refreshing departure from the current spate of action films that are mostly tied to superhero titles. Instead, director Gina Prince-Bythewood ( The Old Guard ) gives us a period piece about the real-life inspired female warriors of the African Kingdom of Dahomey known as the Agojie. Viola Davis is their world-weary yet fierce General Nanisca, who trains the women of her tribe and the captured women of other tribes to become elite warriors of unparalleled respect. The script itself is a bit surface when it comes to the complexities of the social and political tribe dynamics of the time, but the ensemble cast elevates even the soapiest subplots to make this a story worth watching.

Set in West Africa of 1823, a title plate explains the basics of the tribe structure between the more populous Oyo Empire and the Kingdom of Dahomey. The latter valued its women warriors so much that they had gender parity in their upper echelons of power, including an all-female guard known as the Agojie. They fought alongside their male counterparts and the most lauded could even ascend to the title of Woman King, who was the respected reign mate to the King.

However, that gender parity doesn’t cross tribes, or even trickle down to individual Dahomey households, where fathers commonly sell their daughters off to wealthy, older men regardless of treatment or their daughter’s wants. Nawi (Thuso Mbedu) is one of those girls, who balks at being given to a violent old man and fights back. Fed up with her brazen ways and lack of value, Nawi’s father gifts her to King Ghezo (John Boyega) and she is given the opportunity to join the Agojie. Despite the brutal training process overseen by General Nanisca, Nawi finds agency and friendship amongst her fellow peers and is mentored by the elite warrior Izogie (Lashana Lynch). They cultivate a sisterhood that is joyous to watch and root for as they become a found family inside the king’s palace.

Nawi eventually joins the ranks of the Agojie as they prepare to battle a myriad of outside threats including the oppressive Oyo, who demand increased tribute prices in exchange for protection from transatlantic slave traders frequenting their local ports. One of the most interesting moral quandaries of the film is witnessing how both the Dahomey and the Oyo are complicit in helping the slave trade. Each has amassed great wealth selling their prisoners to the slavers to fill their coffers, perpetuating a vicious cycle of preying on one another for profit. It’s Nanisca who sees how the raids and ongoing battles between the tribes are hurting their own, and she tries to influence Ghezo towards new industries like palm oil to get out of the blood trade.

What's the best Viola Davis role?

While that hypocrisy is compelling to watch play out, it doesn’t extend to the other major conflicts in the story. Dana Stevens' script has a tendency to set up the conflicts of the region in arguably far too binary terms. The Oyos are painted as the baddies with the Dahomey the progressive good guys, even with their contributions to the selling of their countrymen. The nuances of ancient tribe dynamics are whittled down to the super basic, so that we can follow along easily. But that undercuts what could have been a more complex exploration of the realities of West African history. Instead, the screenplay goes the more populist route by leaning on far too many melodramatic subplots, including secret pregnancies, a romance with a handsome European, political machinations by Ghezo’s trophy wife against Nanisca and a rapist nemesis. But the bulk of those stories do land because the cast is so damn good in selling the humanity within them. Still, the sheer volume of side stories makes the film feel bloated by the 75-minute mark, which is only exacerbated by a rolling ending that should have been culled back for more emotional impact.

But even with those quibbles, The Woman King is very much an engaging movie about the ingenuity and compassion of the Agojie warriors. Watching them train, support, and battle next to one another is rousing and inspiring. Prince-Bythewood continues to exhibit a great eye when it comes to blocking compelling action sequences. And because the women are very much human, the stunt work is remarkably grounded in the realism of their training and their prowess with their weapons of choice. The result is exhilarating combat sequences that feel real and tactile. And while some might be tempered by the boundaries of its PG-13 rating, the dialing back of the gore and splatter doesn’t diminish the film at all.

Performance wise, Davis is excellent as the scarred and world-weary Nanisca. She’s ever stalwart, be it her king or her warriors. But Davis knows when to let the tough facade fall, especially in scenes with her right-hand woman Amenza (Sheila Atim) and Nawi, so we see the heart of the woman underneath. Lynch is also excpetionally good in fashioning Izogie to be a counterpoint to Nanisca. They are both seasoned senior warriors, but Izogie is more patient and open with young Nawi and serves as an effective alternate symbol of strength to those coming up. And then there’s Mbedu, who really commands the camera with her expressive face. Nawi shoulders a lot of the emotional weight and it's through Mbedu’s reactions that the film often earns it tears or whoops of enthusiasm. She’s a talent clearly on the rise and a big part of why The Woman King rises above some of its tropes.

The Woman King overcomes the perils of its overstuffed script with a collection of performances that elevate the whole. As expected, Viola Davis is the emotional center of the piece, masterfully fine-tuning her performance to go from fierce to vulnerable as needed. More surprising is breakout star Thuso Mbedu as the Agojie’s new recruit, Nawi. She drives the majority of the story and lands everything the movie asks of her and then some. What results is a crowd-pleasing movie featuring an inspiring array of female heroes who, even in 1823, are more than capable of saving themselves, and do it quite thrillingly.

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The Woman King

A historical epic inspired by true events that took place in The Kingdom of Dahomey, one of the most powerful states of Africa in the 18th and 19th centuries. A historical epic inspired by true events that took place in The Kingdom of Dahomey, one of the most powerful states of Africa in the 18th and 19th centuries. A historical epic inspired by true events that took place in The Kingdom of Dahomey, one of the most powerful states of Africa in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Gina Prince-Bythewood
Dana Stevens
Maria Bello
Viola Davis
Thuso Mbedu
Lashana Lynch
524 User reviews
222 Critic reviews
76 Metascore
28 wins & 124 nominations total

Top cast 44

Santo Ferreira

(as Chioma Umeala)

(as Siv Ngesi)

(as Angelique Kidjo)
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Trivia Producer Maria Bello visited Benin in West Africa to research the Agojie, and returned to the US, convinced she had found a great movie pitch. The project then stayed in development hell for years, first at STX (which only offered $5 million for the budget), then at TriStar. Only after the massive success of Black Panther (2018) was the film greenlit with a $50 million budget.
Goofs The Dahomey Mino (or Dahomey Amazons) did not fight to end slavery but were in fact prolific slavers themselves. The Dahomey enslaved thousands of fellow Africans until the kingdom was defeated by the French in 1894.

Nanisca : We are the spear of victory, we are the blade of freedom, we are Dahomey!

Crazy credits There's a mid-credits scene, in which Amenza is seen performing a memorial ceremony for her fallen sisters, pouring salt and whiskey over their weapons. She says their names aloud, and the last name we hear is Breonna.
Connections Featured in Black Conservative Perspective: WOKE BACKFIRE! 'The Woman King' DESTROYED For Glorifying African Women Fighting To Protect Slavery! (2022)
Soundtracks Tribute to the King Written and produced by Icebo M

User reviews 524

kevin_robbins
Sep 15, 2022
How long is The Woman King? Powered by Alexa
September 16, 2022 (United States)
United States
South Africa
Sony Pictures Entertainment
Nữ Vương Huyền Thoại
TriStar Pictures
Eone Entertainment
TSG Entertainment
See more company credits at IMDbPro
$50,000,000 (estimated)
$67,328,130
$19,051,442
Sep 18, 2022
$97,562,514

Technical specs

Runtime 2 hours 15 minutes
Dolby Digital
IMAX 6-Track
Dolby Atmos

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‘the woman king’ review: viola davis transforms in gina prince-bythewood’s rousing action epic.

The Academy Award-winning actress stars alongside Thuso Mbedu, Lashana Lynch, Sheila Atim and John Boyega in a feature inspired by an all-women warrior unit in pre-colonial Benin.

By Lovia Gyarkye

Lovia Gyarkye

Arts & Culture Critic

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The Woman King review: Viola Davis roars in a stirring reimagining of the action epic

She's the captain now.

Our cinematic cup spills over with Bravehearts and Gladiators and Last Samurai ; even lions can be kings on screen. But female warriors, unsurprisingly, have mostly been confined to TV syndication or Themyscira , which feels like a deficit Gina Prince-Bythewood's The Woman King is long overdue to correct. The movie, which premiered last night at the Toronto Film Festival, arrives as the rousing crowd-pleaser it was crafted to be: a spirited and often thrilling action epic elevated by the regal, rigorous commitment of star Viola Davis.

Davis is General Nanisca, leader of the Agojie, an all-female fighting unit in early 19th-century West Africa who lay down their lives — no marriage, no children — to defend the Dahomey empire led by King Ghezo ( John Boyega ). Some join voluntarily, others are prisoners of war; Nawi (South African actress Thuso Mbedu) lands there because her exasperated father has given up trying to marry her off. If she wants to be defiant, she can go live with the wild ladies behind the palace walls and learn to fight or die trying, but she will no longer be his problem. Instead she becomes an immediate thorn in the side of nearly all her superiors, including Izogie ( No Time to Die 's Lashana Lynch ) and Amenza ( Sheila Atim ), a girl so eager to do things her own way she can't stop rebelling and questioning and disregarding the chain of command.

There's never really any doubt that she'll also make a great warrior, and Prince-Bythewood, who spent years helming intimate, intelligent dramas like Love & Basketball and Beyond the Lights before pivoting to the large-scale adrenalized action of the 2020 Charlize Theron Netflix hit The Old Guard , fills her training scenes with lively, stirring pageantry. The Agojie, who actually existed for nearly three centuries, learn knife skills and shooting and how to heal wounds, but they're also a sort of sacred unit, one whose shared purpose is often dazzlingly ritualized in song and dance.

The fighting, when it comes — from both competing tribes and white colonizers steadily advancing an international slave trade — is viscerally satisfying too, even as the screenplay, by Dana Stevens ( Fatherhood ) and actress Maria Bello, works mostly in the broad strokes of genre storytelling. The Agojie here tend to be universally noble and good and their enemies strictly bad, either brutes or mustache twirlers; an exception is made for Jordan Bolger ( Peaky Blinders ) as a dashing half-Brazilian invader whose late Dahomey mother has called him back to Africa to find his roots (and to provide the film with a questionably necessary love interest for Nawi).

The women, in fact, are more than enough on their own — though Boyega is excellent as a king smart enough to know the difference between pride and ego — and the movie hinges on the strength of their fierce collective presence. Nanisca's Davis alone gets a deeper backstory, one she imbues with a grace and gravitas not necessarily embedded in the script. (Its handling of the Dahomeys' actual role in perpetuating slavery has already incited heavy debate online; the history conveyed here seems incomplete at best, if not seriously misleading.) For all its gorgeous choreography and costumes, the actual look of the film also lacks a certain richness in the settings and cinematography, a sort of small-screen swords-and-sandals feel. But the movie is swords and sandals, a classic hero's quest; one that just had to wait several lifetimes for the rest of the world to catch up. Grade: B

Review: Viola Davis adds another jewel to her crown in a rousing ‘Woman King’

Thuso Mbedu looks at Viola Davis in a scene from "The Woman King."

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With her rousing new action-drama, “The Woman King,” director Gina Prince-Bythewood suggests that, in at least one crucial respect, the West African kingdom of Dahomey was more ahead of its time than that starry imperialist empire called Hollywood. An early 19th century epic awash in militaristic might and colonial oppression, the movie burnishes the truth and the legend of the Agojie, an all-female regiment of warriors who fought for Dahomey with great ferocity, unapologetic bloodlust and selfless abandon. And the most ferocious among them, at least in this swift and satisfying telling, was their top general, Nanisca, played by Viola Davis in the first major action showcase of her career.

That’s a remarkable accomplishment if also a revealing one, and it speaks less to any heretofore uncharted depths of Davis’ talent than to the limits of the film industry’s imagination. While her smarts and gravitas have always made her a natural fit for authority figures (she can do cunning government heavies in her sleep), it has seldom fallen to Davis to play the fearsome warrior. Or, as we see in “The Woman King’s” cut-to-the-quick opening scene, to rise silently from the grasses, sword out, midriff bared, shoulders agleam with sweat and firelight. Her enemies are the gun-wielding, horse-riding male soldiers of the Oyo Empire, who quickly set the stakes in a picture that aspires to the grandly epic scale of “Braveheart,” “Gladiator” and “The Last of the Mohicans.”

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If “The Woman King” doesn’t always match the visceral intensity of those pictures — Prince-Bythewood, a skillful director of action, keeps the carnage to a PG-13 minimum — it nonetheless rises to the challenge of using an old-fashioned template to deliver a flood tide of exhilarating new images. To watch the Agojie warriors storm into battle, armed with swords and spears and led by Nanisca’s mighty ululating battle cry, is to encounter much more than the standard Hollywood vision of resistance in action. And before long, the Agojie’s ranks are fortified by a fresh batch of recruits, some of whom are refugees from neighboring realms and some of whom, like a stubborn teenager named Nawi (an outstanding Thuso Mbedu), have been disowned and deposited at the palace gates by their fed-up families.

Two warriors face each other in a scene from "The Woman King."

Nawi isn’t a conscript; as Nanisca makes clear, joining the Agojie is a choice. If that feels like a slightly sanitized reading of a military apparatus fed by prisoners of war, it nonetheless suits the story’s dramatic purposes. Becoming a soldier is very much a choice for Nawi, whose impetuousness is both a strength and a weakness, one that Nanisca does her best to temper with a spirit of discipline and self-sacrifice. To join this elite warrior class means taking a vow of lifelong celibacy, dwelling in a women-only section of the palace and swearing allegiance to Ghezo (John Boyega), Dahomey’s male king. Naturally, it also means submitting to the kind of intense fitness regimen — running through thickets of thorns, decapitating dummies stitched from tightly knotted ropes — that great training and competition montages are made of.

Prince-Bythewood steers us through these sequences with terrific sweep and urgency, lingering just long enough for you to take in this world in all its rich, tactile particulars, from the straw roofs and red earthen walls of Akin McKenzie’s production design to the intricately patterned fabrics and elaborate beadwork of Gersha Phillips’ costumes. (Terence Blanchard’s moving score heightens the immersion.) At times you wish the director would linger longer still, the better to let a deeper understanding of Dahomey’s rigid rules, meticulous hierarchies and tangled alliances seep into your bones.

The hard-working, sometimes muddled script, written by Dana Stevens (from a story credited to her and actor Maria Bello, who served as a producer), is too busy laying out the present-tense drama to delve into the history of how the Agojie women came to be. Nor does it unpack the tricky gender nuances of a kingdom where women who became Agojie were essentially considered to have become men, according to some historical accounts. To its credit, the movie does acknowledge some of the story’s uglier historical context, including the fact that Dahomey became a rich nation by profiting off the transatlantic slave trade, selling African prisoners to European invaders. (Jordan Bolger plays a hunky Portuguese Dahomean explorer who catches Nawi’s eye in a perfunctory romantic subplot.)

A warrior holds a spear in a scene from the movie "The Woman King."

Nanisca abhors her kingdom’s complicity in slavery and is determined to put an end to it — a shrewd if narratively convenient choice that makes her an unambiguously easy hero to root for. It’s not the story’s only trade-off: If the general is easily the most physically imposing character Davis has ever played, that may necessarily preclude her from being the most interesting or psychologically complex. Fortunately, she doesn’t have to be: Commanding as Davis is to watch, she often cedes the spotlight to the other women in her midst. These include Mbedu, the South African-born star of last year’s limited series “The Underground Railroad,” and the Ugandan British actor Sheila Atim, who, as one of Nanisca’s deputies, can rivet the camera without a word. Most of all it includes Lashana Lynch (“No Time to Die”), who’s funny, fierce and finally heartbreaking as Izogie, a warrior who takes Nawi under her wing.

The sense of sisterly solidarity that powers “The Woman King” is the movie’s raison d’être; it’s also part of Prince-Bythewood’s authorial signature. Since she made her feature debut with “Love & Basketball” more than 20 years ago, her commitment to centering women in her storytelling, especially Black women, has never wavered, even as it’s cost her opportunities in an industry that likes to pass off its racism and sexism as commercial imperatives. In recent years the Hollywood tide has clearly begun to turn for Prince-Bythewood, on the evidence of “The Old Guard,” her bracing 2020 action-fantasy for Netflix about a band of immortal warriors. No one lives forever in “The Woman King,” but at its best it’s a reminder that history, even selectively dramatized history, doesn’t have to stay dead.

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‘The Woman King’

Rated: PG-13, for sequences of strong violence, some disturbing material, thematic content, brief language and partial nudity Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes Playing: Starts Sept. 16 in general release

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‘The Woman King’ Review: Viola Davis Leads an Army of African Warriors in Compelling Display of Black Power

'Love & Basketball' director Gina Prince-Bythewood and her Oscar-winning leading lady want the world to know about the exceptional group of women who took on the slave trade.

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Reviewed at Toronto Film Festival (Gala Presentations), Sept. 9, 2022. MPA Rating: PG-13. Running time: 135 MIN.

Production: A Sony release of a TriStar Pictures presentation, in association with eOne, of a JuVee Prods., Welle Entertainment production. Producers: Cathy Schulman, Viola Davis, Julius Tennon, Maria Bello. Executive producer: Peter McAleese.
Crew: Director: Gina Prince-Bythewood. Screenplay: Dana Stevens; story: Maria Bello, Dana Stevens. Camera: Polly Morgan. Editor: Terilyn A. Shropshire. Music: Terence Blanchard.
With: Viola Davis, Thuso Mbedu, Lashana Lynch, Sheila Atim, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, and John Boyega. (English, Portuguese dialogue)

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The Woman King Review

16 Sep 2022

The Woman King

“All I ever knew of Africans was slaves,” says Malik (Jordan Bolger) in one scene in The Woman King . He is a Portuguese-African man, and son of a woman stolen from her country; during a quiet moment pondering the mass displacement of slavery, he’s in Dahomey (modern-day Benin) to see the one place his mother was free, a connection to roots that many were never able to make. Gina Prince-Bythewood ’s fifth film seeks the same Africa: the multifaceted one hidden behind decades of stories that represent it only as a traumatised continent, rather than one with its own complications and kingdoms. The American director presents the kingdom of Dahomey as a splendour of colour, especially in the opulence of the king’s court. But in finding this African decadence, it’s never forgotten that imperialist wealth comes at a moral cost, one that the film spends its running time figuring out. It wrestles with its admiration of an affluent kingdom and a female-led warrior class — as well as the uglier realities of how that wealth is earned.

Prince-Bythewood invokes historical epics like Braveheart and The Last Of The Mohicans in her depiction of Dahomey’s all-woman kingsguard, the Agojie, also known as the Dahomey Amazons — or, as per a Portuguese slaver, “the bloodiest bitches in Africa” — and their fight against the larger Oyo Empire of Yoruba. The romanticism of those films is echoed by Prince-Bythewood, still interested in intimacy even as the scale of her storytelling expands. Her last film, The Old Guard , unspooled a romance over millennia; The Woman King finds its love stories — platonic, familial and romantic — drawn across ethnic and national fault-lines.

The choreography is thrillingly brawny, set-pieces mounted with lean ferocity.

Those stories act as counterweights to some surprisingly brutal action. The choreography is thrillingly brawny and efficient, set-pieces mounted with lean ferocity. The Woman King doesn’t reserve spectacle only for fights, either, depicting the community’s ceremonial songs and dances with thrilling verve. The film craft here is gorgeous, the make-up and costume design lush and detailed; they draw focus to the physiques of the warrior women, the sight of their shoulders and backs celebrating martial prowess as much as beauty.

The movie has a lot on its mind. There are lyrical sequences involving music and movement. There are also moments in which European slavers are being beaten to death with their own chains. To its credit, it largely holds off presenting Dahomey uncritically as the one good empire. Structural imbalance and patriarchy are still prevalent within the kingdom’s walls. Dana Stevens’ screenplay wrestles with the kingdom’s complicity in the selling of slaves to Europe and America, which they trade for wealth, luxuries, weapons and military power. That carries through into some satisfyingly revisionist wish-fulfilment, where King Ghezo ( John Boyega ) and his Agojie realise the evil of slavery, and combat it and colonialist manipulation in search of Pan-African unity. The Oyo come to represent the opposite: the evil of collaborating with the slave trade, the myopic route to power that Dahomey has a responsibility to fight.

There are a few missteps. The script follows some predictable trajectories for its characters and slows in the middle, before rushing into its final act. Terence Blanchard’s score, too, threatens to undermine the quieter moments with overwrought schmaltz (a shame, given the composer’s usual handle on drama).

Thankfully, such moments are held together by emotional authenticity from the cast. As the steely-eyed leader Nanisca, Viola Davis convincingly demonstrates the power to silence a room with a withering glance. (Would you expect anything less?) But the film's revelation is how her simmering performance gradually offers reminders of a stolen youth, her tragedy revealed through restraint rather than melodramatic showiness. Sheila Atim and Thuso Mbedu , meanwhile — both standouts in Barry Jenkins’ The Underground Railroad adaptation — give the material gravitas, even as it steps to more melodramatic narrative beats. As she was in that series, Mbedu (a co-lead with Davis here) is simply magnetic, while Atim feels like the most natural presence, fully lived-in but memorable even at the film’s margins. Lashana Lynch is also a delight to watch, incredibly funny and mischievous, brimming with earned confidence. And Boyega is just as riveting as King Ghezo, a compelling mixture of youthful indecision and royal authority. Each actor is given the space to develop a rich sense of interiority.

These impressive performances certainly help to smooth over any cracks; when this cast springs into battle, with such physicality and sheer charisma, The Woman King hits with an impact that’s hard to resist.

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The Woman King First Reviews: Viola Davis Rules the Screen in a Rousing, Action-Packed Crowd-Pleaser

Critics say that despite a few minor quibbles with the script, gina prince-bythewood's historical epic offers an awards-worthy performance from davis, a breakout star in thuso mbedu, and impressively choreographed action scenes..

TAGGED AS: First Reviews , news

Viola Davis stars in the action drama The Woman King , which received rave reviews out of its Toronto International Film Festival premiere. Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood ( The Old Guard ), the movie is said to mix mainstream Hollywood entertainment with a story of social and historical significance. The ensemble cast, including Davis, Lashana Lynch , John Boyega , and Thuso Mbedu , has been praised across the board, and the action is also a highlight. However, there are some minor disappointments in the script.

Here’s what critics are saying about The Woman King :

Is The Woman King a crowd-pleaser?

A crowd-pleasing epic — think Braveheart with Black women. – Lovia Gyarkye, Hollywood Reporter

When The Woman King works, it’s majestic… The magnitude and the awe this movie inspires are what epics like Gladiator and Braveheart are all about. – Robert Daniels, RogerEbert.com

A hell of a time at the movies, a seemingly “niche” topic with great appeal, the sort of battle-heavy feature that will likely engender plenty of hoots and hollers. – Kate Erbland, IndieWire

Easily one of my favorite experiences of the year in a theater… It’s an action epic that is sure to make everyone stand up and cheer. – Kate Sánchez, But Why Tho? A Geek Community

An absolute blast. It’s a film that isn’t afraid to get you cheering. – Chris Evangelista, Slashfilm

As a mainstream action epic, it has plenty to offer. – Joey Magidson, Awards Radar

It is a splashy popcorn movie with a social conscience. – Caryn James, BBC.com

(Photo by ©TriStar Pictures)

How is Viola Davis?

This is the greatest performance of her career. – Jamie Broadnax, Black Girl Nerds

Davis is stellar…[she] seems to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders just with a single glance. – Chris Evangelista, Slashfilm

This is Davis’s film, and her artful control of her face, her voice, and her body is breathtaking. – Kate Sánchez, But Why Tho? A Geek Community

The Oscar-winning actress, known for digging into her characters’ psyches, accesses an impressive level of emotional depth and nuance as Nanisca. – Lovia Gyarkye, Hollywood Reporter

Reminding us at every moment that she’s one of the best actresses of her generation. She’s the thespian rising tide that lifts every other performance around her. – Roger Moore, Movie Nation

Davis truly gets to flex the full range of her acting chops. A performance of this caliber is rare in what’s essentially an action flick. – Martin Tsai, The Wrap

Viola Davis is the movie’s title character and should have been in more scenes. – Carla Hay, Culture Mix

Does she rise to the occasion as an action star?

Viola Davis is a formidable force in The Woman King … [She] stuns in the most physically demanding role of her estimable career. – Tim Grierson, Screen International

At 57 years old, this is Davis’s first full-blown action role, and she’s still fully believable as a seasoned warrior. – Reuben Baron, Looper.com

If people like Bob Odenkirk and Liam Neeson can become action heroes in their 50s, Davis seems bound to show people she can, too. Her raw intensity is backed up by a newly jacked physique that makes her an imposing action heroine, and she performs exceptionally well in the numerous action scenes. – Chris Bumbray, JoBlo’s Movie Network

Davis showcases that action sequences can be just as intimate and emotional as dramatic moments… [She] can easily best any action star on the screen. – Kate Sánchez, But Why Tho? A Geek Community

How is Lashana Lynch?

In a cast full of heavy-hitters, Lynch is the real stand-out… Every second she’s on screen is a treat, and I wanted more of her. – Chris Evangelista, Slashfilm

Lynch demonstrates the same steely authority that made her so appealing in last year’s No Time To Die . – Tim Grierson, Screen International

Lashana Lynch, the most experienced action star of the bunch with No Time to Die and the Marvel Cinematic Universe under her belt, is a standout as Izogie… and is responsible for some of the film’s most intense emotional moments. – Reuben Baron, Looper.com

Does anyone else in the cast stand out?

Mbedu, the jewel of Barry Jenkins’ Underground Railroad , shines as Nawi, a teenager sent to join the Agojie after her father abandons the project of marrying her off. – Lovia Gyarkye, Hollywood Reporter

Mbedu gives a breakout performance. – Chris Evangelista, Slashfilm

Thuso Mbedu seems destined to be a star. – Reuben Baron, Looper.com

Mbedu reaffirms herself as a star. – Robert Daniels, RogerEbert.com

[With] an exceptional supporting performance… Mbedu nearly steals the show. – Tim Grierson, Screen International

How is Gina Prince-Bythewood’s directing?

Prince-Bythewood has somehow managed to set the bar even higher for her own standard of women-empowered stories. – Jamie Broadnax, Black Girl Nerds

Prince-Bythewood knows how to craft a sword and sandals style action epic. – Joey Magidson, Awards Radar

[She shows] a skilled eye for understanding that an action sequence is never just a fight, but rather a moment to tell a story packed with emotion. – Kate Sánchez, But Why Tho? A Geek Community

Her style encompasses the perfect balance of action and drama and is unafraid to put the brutality of humans on full display. – Valerie Complex, Deadline Hollywood Daily

Gina Prince-Bythewood doesn’t make a wrong move. – Caryn James, BBC.com

It’s the movie Prince-Bythewood has been building toward throughout her entire career. And she doesn’t miss. – Robert Daniels, RogerEbert.com

How is the action?

The fight choreography in this film is by far the most impressive I’ve ever seen on screen in a very long time. – Jamie Broadnax, Black Girl Nerds

The battles are relentless and kinetic. – Caryn James, BBC.com

The fight scenes are big, bombastic, and often brutal. – Martin Tsai, The Wrap

Gina Prince-Bythewood has crafted battle sequences that are exciting and moving at the same time. – Tim Grierson, Screen International

The Woman King opens with an incredible action sequence… Men are getting sliced, diced and tossed across the screen by these mighty warrior women. – Valerie Complex, Deadline Hollywood Daily

The Woman King is at its best when our heroines are kicking ass. – Joey Magidson, Awards Radar

The PG-13 rating… makes the action sequences tamer than they should be. – Chris Bumbray, JoBlo’s Movie Network

Is it violent?

Eye-popping battle sequences [push] that PG-13 rating to wild ends. – Kate Erbland, IndieWire

The camera takes us inside the hand-to-hand combat, with warriors plunging spears into bodies and slicing throats. This is not benign, cartoonish action. – Caryn James, BBC.com

The sound team works overtime to give us a sense of brutality, but there’s no blood or gore when Davis and her crew are hacking adversaries to pieces. It leaves the battles looking a little too clean-cut. – Chris Bumbray, JoBlo’s Movie Network

There are moments where swords don’t connect and the wounds from being injured or killed look like bright red blots of ink rather than an injury from war. – Kate Sánchez, But Why Tho? A Geek Community

The Woman King has some intense battle scenes and depictions of enslavement that might be too hard to watch for very sensitive viewers. – Carla Hay, Culture Mix

What about the script?

The script by Dana Stevens (with a Story By credit going to Maria Bello) is a bit on the standard side, but it’s in service of the old school dramatic spectacle on hand. – Joey Magidson, Awards Radar

The plot to The Woman King can feel convoluted. But its excesses serve the film’s blockbuster goals. – Robert Daniels, RogerEbert.com

Dana Stevens’ screenplay, based on Maria Bello’s story, tries to balance several competing and not always steady plotlines over the course of two hours. – Lovia Gyarkye, Hollywood Reporter

The script never goes quite as deep as it could. – Chris Evangelista, Slashfilm

The Woman King doesn’t always successfully juggle its myriad narrative ambitions. – Tim Grierson, Screen International

The Woman King is sometimes cluttered and uneven… The development of the Nanisca character sometimes falls short of what many viewers might expect. – Carla Hay, Culture Mix

Does the romantic subplot work?

The inclusion of a romance subplot… feels quite forced and accelerated. – Kate Sánchez, But Why Tho? A Geek Community

A flat attempt at a love story… feels like the product of truly misguided studio notes. – Kate Erbland, IndieWire

It feels like it comes out of another movie… Mbedu, unrealistically, seems drawn to a man that associates with the same folks that routinely enslave her people. – Chris Bumbray, JoBlo’s Movie Network

The dramatic beats and subplots are fine, but they lack some of the consistent effectiveness that the fight scenes do. – Joey Magidson, Awards Radar

How well does it represent history and the culture it depicts?

The Woman King also does a phenomenal job of showcasing the culture, wealth, and beauty of Dahomey. – Kate Sánchez, But Why Tho? A Geek Community

Shot on location in Africa, [it] benefits immensely from rich production design from Akin McKenzie, delightful costumes from Gersha Phillips, and functional and fun hairstyles from Louisa V. Anthony’s department. – Kate Erbland, IndieWire

The tactile costumes by Gersha Phillips and the detailed production design by Akin McKenzie feel lived in and vibrant, especially in the vital rendering of the Dahomey Kingdom, which is teeming with scenes of color and community. – Robert Daniels, RogerEbert.com

Production design by Akin Mackenzie and costumes by Gersha Phillips are lush and opulent, drenched in deep red and yellow hues. A lot of thought went into making the kingdom of Dahomey look as authentic as possible. – Valerie Complex, Deadline Hollywood Daily

The Woman King leans toward fantasy in its heroic moments, but is rooted in truth about war, brutality and freedom. – Caryn James, BBC.com

The Woman King begins as portraiture and then surrenders to melodrama when faced with the challenges of translating history for the screen and constructing a coherent geopolitical thread. – Lovia Gyarkye, Hollywood Reporter

The Woman King is an 8/10 for entertainment value, and 4/10 for how it deals with history. – Reuben Baron, Looper.com

Do we need more movies like The Woman King ?

In 2022, this should not be the exception. Hollywood should have been making films like The Woman King for many years… If this is what a Hollywood-ized and -sized blockbuster looks like in 2022, bring it on. Bring them all on. – Kate Erbland, IndieWire

Maybe one day we’ll get to a point where such a movie doesn’t feel groundbreaking, but here we are. – Chris Evangelista, Slashfilm

The Woman King opens everywhere on September 16, 2022.

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The Woman King has a fierce fire in its belly

Viola Davis leads the complex, deeply human action movie, set in West Africa and based on real history

by Katie Rife

Nanisca (Viola Davis), brandishing a machete, leads a group of Black warrior women out of hiding in the grass and into battle in The Woman King

Polygon has a team on the ground at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival, reporting on the horror, comedy, drama, and action movies meant to dominate the cinematic conversation as we head into awards season. This review was published in conjunction with the film’s TIFF premiere.

The Woman King isn’t the simple tale of good and evil it appears to be. The film does pit the Agojie, a fierce all-female army from the historical West African kingdom of Dahomey (and inspiration for Black Panther ’s Dora Milaje ), against the moral rot of chattel slavery. The Dahomey aren’t pure victims, though. They also participate in the slave trade — not as extensively as the neighboring Oyo Empire, which has been terrorizing Dahomey settlements and selling their people to Portuguese slavers for decades. But the Dahomey do capture enemies and sell them as slaves. Some within the kingdom oppose the practice on moral grounds. Others are simply looking to get rich and don’t care how they do it.

This ambiguity makes The Woman King less of a nationalist exercise than S.S. Rajamouli’s RRR , Mel Gibson’s Braveheart, and so many other films that turn real historical events, with all their messy contradictions and pesky nuances, into straightforward David-and-Goliath stories. To be clear, this is still a Hollywood version of history, with all the rousing action, inspirational uplift, and soaring soundtrack choices that label implies. But director Gina Prince-Bythewood ( The Old Guard , Beyond the Lights ) and screenwriter Dana Stevens do complicate the issue, mostly for the better.

Viola Davis stars as Nanisca, the leader of the Agojie, who carries the weight of the kingdom on her muscular shoulders, alongside some pretty nasty scars. As the film opens, the Agojie are considering how to strike back against their Oyo oppressors. And they’ve recently suffered losses in raids against the Oyo designed to free Dahomey captives headed to a port auction block. As a result, they’re looking for new recruits.

Agojie leader Nanisca (Viola Davis) and warrior Izogie (Lashana Lynch) look over an array of young warrior recruits in The Woman King

This is good news for Nawi (Thuso Mbedu), a rebellious teenage girl from the capital city. When Nawi’s father drops her off at the palace gates, telling the guard that he’s offering his daughter as a gift to the king, he thinks he’s punishing her for refusing to accept an arranged marriage to a rich man who introduces himself by hitting her. It turns out that her father is actually saving her. Nawi’s fiery nature and stubborn determination make her a much better fit for the Agojie than for sexual servitude and a life of forced farm labor.

The first half of the film focuses on Nawi’s initiation into the Agojie, following her and her fellow recruits through the boot camp-like training designed to transform them from undisciplined girls into polished warriors. The instruction only partially works on Nawi, who remains defiant even when it isn’t in her best interests. Her superiors, including Nanisca’s second-in-command, Amenza (Sheila Atim, recently seen as a doomed warrior in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ), and their fierce lieutenant, Izogie (Lashana Lynch, the Captain Marvel movies’ Maria Rambeau), discipline her when they need to. At the same time, they seem amused by this impassioned new recruit.

Because rebellion can’t be tolerated in the well-organized Agojie, but spirit and passion are encouraged and respected. The rules surrounding the army are many, including a royal edict that no ordinary citizen can look an Agojie in the eye. But sisterhood and pride are as important to them as custom and protocol. And behind castle walls, even Nanisca is gentler than Nawi expects, given her tired eyes and grave expression.

John Boyega co-stars as Dahomey sovereign King Ghezo, and the film does dive briefly into politics and castle intrigue as Nanisca and the king’s favorite wife compete for influence over Ghezo. This rivalry is less compelling than the camaraderie between the Agojie, which grows richer as the characters’ traumatic backstories and epic destinies are revealed. In the cloistered, all-female world of the palace, bonds between women blossom and thrive. And Prince-Bythewood infuses these relationships with a warmth that’s even more inspiring than scenes of powerful Black women charging into battle.

Agojie general Nanisca and King Ghezo (John Boyega) sit together in an outdoor shelter in The Woman King

By comparison, a halting romance between Nawi and a half-Dahomey, half-Portuguese explorer named Malik (Jordan Bolger) feels perfunctory. This is one movie where romance takes a back seat to comradeship — as refreshing a change of pace as giving African history and heroism the epic action-movie treatment.

Prince-Bythewood films the set-pieces with an eye for kinetic action, with fight choreography that’s split equally between MMA-style grappling and the swinging of heavy, curved machetes. But the real star of these scenes is the sound design, which adds heavy, crushing impact to the otherwise bloodless violence. (The film is rated PG-13, which limits the amount of blood that can be spilled on screen — a necessary sacrifice, perhaps, given the film’s populist scope.) Gunpowder and horses play secondary roles in the battle sequences, fitting for a film whose focus is on its people.

The Woman King is a more human type of blockbuster than most of what turns up on screen in the summer months. It’s burdened with many of the issues that typify big studio movies — overstretched CGI, an overstuffed plot — but it shrugs off those issues as easily as the Agojie flip enemy soldiers over their backs and into the dirt. This film has a fire in its belly. But more importantly, it also has a heart full of love: love of life, love of freedom, love of Black people and culture, and love for its ferocious, complicated, brave women.

The Woman King opens in theaters on Sept. 16.

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The woman king.

Common Sense Says
Parents Say 10 Reviews
Kids Say 10 Reviews

Common Sense Media Review

Memorable, historic, violent tale of African women warriors.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 15+?

Lots of fight/battle scenes with a high body count. Battles are intense (bloody

The Agojie are expected to be virgins. A man shows an interest in a young Agojie

"Bitches" is shown in subtitles; insults include "worthless," "lazy," "stubborn,

Adults drink at a feast. One Agojie, who drinks from a small flask, makes a joke

Any Positive Content?

Positive representation of an African kingdom that had an all-women king's guard

The leaders of the Agojie -- Nanisca, Amenza, and Izogie -- are firm and demandi

Promotes courage, perseverance, and teamwork, making it clear that these highly

Violence & Scariness

Lots of fight/battle scenes with a high body count. Battles are intense (bloody wounds, stabbings, slit throats, shots of dead bodies, etc.) and full of moments when it seems like a character is going to die. A couple of deaths (both real and presumed) are particularly emotional. Weapons used in full-scale battle scenes include spears, curved knives, ropes, and muskets -- and a particularly bloody use of sharpened fingernails. Domestic/sexual violence includes an older suitor punching a young woman he's expressing marital interest in, and flashbacks to a woman remembering being repeatedly raped.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

The Agojie are expected to be virgins. A man shows an interest in a young Agojie in training, who catches him naked when he's bathing in a river. His partially nude body (bare behind, back, chest, abs) is visible. They eventually speak, exchange longing looks, and in subsequent scenes are shown embracing and later in what's an implied post-sex scene. The king gives affectionate attention to a few different wives.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

"Bitches" is shown in subtitles; insults include "worthless," "lazy," "stubborn," "old woman."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Adults drink at a feast. One Agojie, who drinks from a small flask, makes a joke that the only good thing the White men bring is whiskey.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Diverse Representations

Positive representation of an African kingdom that had an all-women king's guard. (The Agojie are little known in mainstream media.) Women have agency and are shown to be strong, smart, capable, and brave. The movie's only White characters are involved in the transatlantic slave trade; the movie also depicts Africans who sold other Africans to slave traders. A biracial Brazilian character identifies as Black once he's back in Dahomey and helps Nawi and sides with the Agojie. Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, a Black woman.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Positive Role Models

The leaders of the Agojie -- Nanisca, Amenza, and Izogie -- are firm and demanding but also encouraging and willing to teach young women from other tribes and villages. Nawi is brave, curious, and strong-willed, although also occasionally reckless and defiant. All of the women are strong, smart, capable, and brave.

Positive Messages

Promotes courage, perseverance, and teamwork, making it clear that these highly trained women warriors are every bit as capable, imposing, and successful as men. Values the abilities of women (particularly women over 30) and people of color. Stresses historical importance of abolitionist attitudes and the negative impact of colonization and the slave trade.

Parents need to know that The Woman King is an empowering historical adventure drama that follows Nanisca, the general ( Viola Davis ) of a 19th century West African all-female royal guard called the Agojie. The Agojie of the Kingdom of Dahomey (what's now Benin) -- the inspiration for the Dora Milaje in Black Panther -- fought off hostile tribes from bordering nations. Expect a high body count, with lots of fighting and intense, often bloody warfare. The Agojie use ropes, spears, finely sharpened fingernails, and other weapons in scenes that show dead bodies. A few of the deaths are particularly upsetting. There are also flashbacks to sexual assault and one moment when a suitor strikes a young woman he's courting. Language isn't frequent but includes "bitches" in subtitles. Adults drink, a man's partially nude body (bare behind, back, chest, abs) is visible, and there are scenes that show embracing and imply that characters had sex. The film is a labor of love from critically acclaimed filmmaker Gina Prince-Bythewood ( Love and Basketball and The Old Guard ). Families will want to research the history of the "Dahomey Amazons" to compare what's been written about the elite army with the film's plot. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

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Parent and Kid Reviews

Parents say (10)
Kids say (10)

Based on 10 parent reviews

Heroic Blockbuster violence ( glosses over details about Slavery)

A well-made movie has intense, brutal violence, what's the story.

Writer-director Gina Prince-Bythewood 's drama THE WOMAN KING was inspired by the real-life Agojie, an elite, all-women royal guard of the Kingdom of Dahomey (West Africa) in the 19th century. The film's story follows the group's influential general, Nanisca ( Viola Davis ), whose warriors must fight off the neighboring tribe that's trying to conquer them and sell more and more people into enslavement. The Agojie, who live on the royal grounds, dedicate themselves to their sisterhood and to King Ghezo ( John Boyega ), forsaking the possibility of marriage or children. The film explores how Nanisca; her second-in-command, Amenza (Sheila Atim); protege Igozie ( Lashana Lynch ); and the rest of the guard train recruits -- young women who are either brought from neighboring villages in conflict with Dahomey or presented to the king by their fathers. One promising upstart is the strong-willed Nawi (Thuso Mbedu), who questions authority. Nanisca's mission to protect Dahomey grows urgent as the twin threats of the rival tribe and White enslavers imperil the kingdom's future.

Is It Any Good?

This powerful, poignant film with an excellent cast led by Davis celebrates Black sisterhood and strength. If you had any doubt that women over 55 can be fierce warriors, seeing Michelle Yeoh in Everything Everywhere All at Once and now Davis in The Woman King should disabuse you of that uncertainty. Davis is flat-out phenomenal as General Nanisca, bringing her characteristic gravitas and charisma to the role. The other warriors are also wonderful, particularly Atim, an award-winning British actor who should be cast in a leading role as soon as possible, and Lynch, best known for her Captain Marvel role, who's imposing but also funny and generous. Both give scene-stealing performances and more than hold their own with Davis. South African newcomer Mbedu is compelling and well cast as the ambitious young recruit ready to prove her worth.

The movie's action scenes are tautly shot by cinematographer Polly Morgan, who makes the most of the weaponry and landscape. Gersha Phillips' costume design is gorgeous, and Terence Blanchard's propulsive score -- a collaboration with South African producer, composer, and singer Lebo M -- deftly uses African percussion and themes. Although there's a slightly unnecessary romance, the movie's plot manages to balance action sequences with moments of character development, friendship, and historical reflection. Prince-Bythewood has been a critically acclaimed filmmaker for many years, and it's thrilling that she's continuing to demonstrate her skill at eliciting great performances from character-driven dramas.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the violence in The Woman King . Do you think it's necessary to the story?

Does the movie make you interested in the historical background of the Kingdom of Dahomey?

Talk about the similarities between the Dora Milaje and the Agojie. Is it clear that the Black Panther squad was inspired by the Dahomey king's guard?

How is the slave trade depicted in the movie? What did you learn from watching?

Movie Details

In theaters : September 16, 2022
On DVD or streaming : December 13, 2022
Cast : Viola Davis , Hero Fiennes Tiffin , Lashana Lynch
Director : Gina Prince-Bythewood
Inclusion Information : Female directors, Black directors, Female actors, Black actors, Female writers
Studio : TriStar Pictures
Genre : Action/Adventure
Topics : Friendship , History
Character Strengths : Courage , Perseverance , Teamwork
Run time : 135 minutes
MPAA rating : PG-13
MPAA explanation : sequences of strong violence, some disturbing material, thematic content, brief language and partial nudity
Award : Common Sense Selection
Last updated : May 11, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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The Woman King Review: A Magnificent Viola Davis Commands Riveting African Epic

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Viola Davis towers in a fierce and gut-wrenching portrayal of courage . The Woman King is literally unlike any film I have seen. For the first time, Hollywood delivers a historical epic about and driven by the travails of black female warriors. Davis and a sublime supporting cast grace a sweeping narrative that touches many difficult issues. But their journey is not solely defined by pain and suffering. The characters experience love, joy, and purpose while defending their sacred way of life. The Woman King will engulf you. Davis emerges as a heavyweight contender for every lead actor award.

Set in 1823 West Africa, the kingdom of Dahomey faces an existential threat. Their larger and more powerful tribal adversaries, the Oyo Empire, have attacked Dahomey villages. They kill, rape, and take prisoners to be sold in the deplorable slave trade. Portuguese slavers await at a port coast for their human cargo. The Oyo have amassed guns and horses under the ruthless General Oba Ade (Jimmy Odukoya).

General Nanisca (Davis) leads the Agojie, an elite class of female "virgin soldiers", on a raid to retake a Dahomey village. She returns to King Ghezo (John Boyega) with a stark warning. The Oyo are infringing on their territory without fear. They must fight back now to send a clear message. Ghezo, more enlightened than his foolish brother, has come to trust Nanisca's sage counsel.

Meanwhile, the headstrong Nawi (Thuso Mbedu) has disappointed her father for the last time. He drops her off at the palace gates as a gift to the king. Commoners were not allowed inside the palace or to look at the Agojie. Nawi commits to join their ranks and choose her own destiny. She's noticed by the a**-kicking but humorous Izogie (Lashana Lynch), who senses the girl has significant promise. Nawi's prideful arrogance doesn't impress the stern Nanisca.

The Dahomey ready their tribute payment for the arriving Oyo contingent. They have also brought along Malik (Jordan Bolger), a bi-racial Portuguese sailor whose Dahomey mother was stolen as a slave. Nanisca trembles at the sight of the sneering Oba Ade. She's encountered this horrific man before.

Related: God's Country Review: Thandiwe Newton's Sublime in Slow-Burn Thriller

The Woman King is Sophisticated and Layered

The Woman King immerses you in Dahomey life. Director Gina Prince-Bythewood (Love & Basketball, The Old Guard) does a superb job explaining the nuances of their African tribal culture. King Ghezo is surrounded by his wives, eunuchs, and the Agojie as loyal protectors. Men aren't allowed inside his section of the palace. Nanisca's forced to deal with Ghezo's troublesome favored wife, Shante (Jayme Lawson), and competitive infantry leader (Sivuyile Ngesi). The palace intrigue adds a political element to a sophisticated, layered plot. Nanisca must convince Ghezo that the Dahomey have to change to survive. The Oyo and Europeans want to exploit their land, abundant resources, and bodies.

There are brutal scenes that will make your heart ache. The film realistically depicts the slave trade and savage consequences of war. Rape, torture, and appalling conditions are shown to their ugliest extent. Prisoners were treated worse than animals. I cringed with disgust at the slave auctions and sexual assaults. The Woman King pulls no punches. Audiences need to see how the wealth and stability of western nations were built on the blood of Africa.

Nanisca's fight to save her people forces painful introspection. She's an unparalleled fighter and tactician, but also struggles with trauma and regret. Several twists explode like narrative grenades. We see how far, and the awful cost, of Nanisca's rise to command the Agojie. Davis runs the gamut of acting greatness . She is magnificent emoting the protagonist's inner turmoil and battlefield prowess. The Woman King stands on her mighty shoulders as one of the year's best films.

The Woman King is a production of TriStar Pictures, Welle Entertainment, JuVee Productions, Jack Blue Productions, and Entertainment One. It will have a theatrical release on September 16th from Sony Pictures .

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The Woman King has received mostly glowing reviews, giving it one of the year's best Rotten Tomatoes scores. 2022 has seen a number of well reviewed movies, but the strength and consistency of The Woman King 's reviews set it apart from many other theatrical releases this year.

Set in the mid-1820s, The Woman King tells the story of an army of female warriors trained by General Nanisca (Viola Davis) to defend the West African nation of Dahomey. As an epic war film loosely based on historical events and starring women of color, The Woman King has a lot going for it on paper, but for a September release in an already complicated post-COVID theatrical environment , the positive reviews and high Rotten Tomatoes score are an especially great sign.

Related: The Woman King's Ending Explained (In Detail)

Obviously strong review scores in Rotten Tomatoes are always a good thing, but The Woman King 's Rotten Tomatoes rating doesn't only make it one of the better reviewed films this year, but in a year mostly dominated by franchise sequels, with just a few exceptions, so it's encouraging to see a movie like The Woman King get such a positive reaction. Here's how its Rotten Tomatoes score sets it apart.

The Woman King's Rotten Tomatoes Score is Really High

The Woman King 's Rotten Tomatoes score currently stands at 94 percent Fresh, coming from 118 positive reviews out of a total of 125 counted by the review aggregator (meaning only 7 reviews are counted as negative or "Rotten"). The 94 percent Rotten Tomatoes score is clearly a big sign of success, but the total number of reviews for The Woman King is also a positive sign in and of itself. While big franchises tend to get more total reviews than The Woman King has, with the average MCU movie seeing almost 380 reviews on each movie, for a non-franchise movie, The Woman King 's 125 opening weekend reviews from critics is also a good sign for the movie's popularity.

The positive reviews also extend to Rotten Tomatoes' specially selected "Top Critics" category, seeing the exact same 94 percent from 36 Top Critics (meaning only two Top Critics gave it a Rotten review). The Rotten Tomatoes scores for both all critics and Top Critics simply represents the present age of reviews that are generally positive, but the actual average rating of all the reviews is also impressive, earning an average score of 7.8 out of 10, which is higher than the MCU's 7.18 out of 10 average review rating . Obviously the movie is drastically different than most MCU movies, but as a franchise with consistently high scores it serves as a good point of comparison to use as a benchmark.

The Woman King's Audience Score is Even Better Than its Critic Score

Critics and audiences don't always align, particularly when it comes to reviews and Rotten Tomatoes scores, but The Woman King has a really strong reception in both categories. The Woman King's verified audience score in Rotten Tomatoes is an impressive 99 percent, even higher than the score from critics. The verified audience score is a fairly new measurement, so it can be hard to compare to other historical scores since it's gathered differently, but the movie's "all audience" score of 85 percent is still higher than the MCU's 82 percent average from audiences.

Related: The Woman King True Story: Everything The Movie Changes

While the critic score is generally cited as the most prominent signal of a movie's reception, the audience score is also an important indicator . In fact, it was more common for 2021's top performing movies to have a Fresh audience score in Rotten Tomatoes than it was for them to have a Rotten score. While there are numerous other factors involved in a movie's reception, the strong reviews from both audiences and critics certainly help set The Woman King up for success.

Why The Woman King's Rotten Tomatoes Scores Are So Good

The most impressive aspect of The Woman King's Rotten Tomatoes score is the consistency of positive reviews between critics, Top Critics, and audiences. The scores from critics and Top Critics are identical, while the score from audiences is also high, showing the movie checks all the boxes to satisfy the technical and artistic considerations of critics while providing the kind of thrills and drama needed to elicit an enthusiastic audience response.

For a movie starring a large cast a women of color , there can also be concerns about potential review bombing or other bad faith reviews, but the consistency in the score is a strong indicator that there's no foul play. Even with the 14 point disparity between the 85 percent audience score and the 99 percent verified audience score, it's common for the all audience score to be lower, with review bombings typically seeing an even wider split.

For comparison, 2017's Wonder Woman , another epic movie featuring female warriors, scored 93 percent from critics, 90 percent from Top Critics, and 83 percent from audiences (several years before the introduction of the "Verified Audience" score). Wonder Woman is widely considered one of the best DCEU movies (if not one of the better superhero movies overall). Similarly, Black Panther , which featured an all black cast and featured Wakanda's elite Dora Milaje female warriors like The Woman King scored 96 percent from critics, 100 percent from Top Critics, and 79 percent from audiences (also prior to the verified audience rating).

Related: Viola Davis' Latest Movie Shows The DCEU Is Still Underusing Waller

As fantastical comic book movies they aren't a perfect reference point for a movie based on actual historical events, and Rotten Tomatoes scores shouldn't be used to make head-to-head comparisons to determine what movie is "better" or "worse," but the comparison helps establish some context for The Woman King's Rotten Tomatoes score. With some superficial similarities, shared subject matter, and similar reviews, Black Panther and Wonder Woman 's Rotten Tomatoes score could give an indication of the level of quality to expect from The Woman King .

Of course, all reviews are subjective, and even the movies mentioned have a small number of detractors, so the positive scores don't mean everyone loves the movies, but clearly the vast majority do. Regardless, with such a consistently strong Rotten Tomatoes scores from all critics, Top Critics, and audiences it's fair to expect most audience members to similarly enjoy The Woman King.

SR Originals

How to Watch The Woman King Online Free

By Silki Joshi

Is The Woman King available to watch online for free? Find out which streaming platform enables viewers to watch and stream the movie online.

The Woman King is a powerful historical drama that chronicles the Agojie, an elite female warrior unit protecting the West African Kingdom of Dahomey. The film explores their intense training, fierce battles, and the complex dynamics of their society. Released in 2022, The Woman King garnered critical acclaim for its stunning visuals, powerful performances, and exploration of themes of femininity, strength, and resilience.

How to watch The Woman King streaming online

You can watch The Woman King via Hulu.

Hulu is a popular streaming platform offering a vast library of television shows, movies, and original content. Known for its diverse programming, including live TV options, Hulu caters to a wide audience with a combination of licensed content and exclusive productions.

Viewers have to sign up for an official account to begin streaming online on Hulu for free.

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Set in the 1820s, The Woman King is a historical action drama that chronicles the life of the Agojie, a formidable all-female warrior unit protecting the West African Kingdom of Dahomey. The film delves into the intense physical and emotional training these women undergo to become fierce protectors of their kingdom. As they confront external threats and internal struggles, the Agojie’s unwavering courage and determination become a symbol of strength and resilience.

The film stars Viola Davis, Thuso Mbedu, Lashana Lynch, Sheila Atim, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, and John Boyega in lead roles.

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'The Winter King' Review: Arthurian Legends Are Reborn in Sprawling War Epic Series

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The Big Picture

The Winter King is a realistic and epic adaptation of Bernard Cornwell's Arthurian legend, emphasizing historical context over fantastical elements.
Iain De Caestecker delivers a captivating portrayal of Arthur, a reluctant ruler and loyal warrior who successfully conveys years of battling armies.
While the series improves upon Cornwell's treatment of female characters, it still employs rape as a plot device, an unfortunate trend in adaptations of fantasy novels from a different era.

The last two decades of television have delivered an absolute lion’s share of Arthurian legends brought to life. Each series has had its own unique style, from the quirky humor of Merlin to the sex appeal of Camelot , though none are quite like MGM+’s epic new adaptation of Bernard Cornwell ’s The Winter King . While the series is rife with pagan mysticism, it is far more focused on being rooted in the realism of its historical context. Though the pagan priestesses and even Merlin ( Nathaniel Martello-White ) may have intuitive foresight, they are not all-powerful beings capable of otherworldly magic. Set in the period of late antiquity in Great Britain, following the Roman occupation and amid the conflict with the Saxons, The Winter King is a sprawling tale about a warrior’s rise to power during uncertain times. In this, Arthur ( Iain De Caestecker ) is not the rightful heir to the throne, but rather a bastard son with power foisted upon him to secure the seat of Dumnonia from threats both inside and outside the kingdom.

De Caestecker is nearly unrecognizable as Arthur, especially for those whose frame of reference for him is playing Fitz on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. , and not just because he spends the better part of the premiere bruised and battered and covered in blood. His screen presence feels like that of a fabled king. He commands every room he walks into, even when those rooms are looking to cast him out of Britain. He plays Arthur masterfully as both a reluctant ruler and a loyal warrior, seizing on the qualities that make him endearing to both his peers and the audience. Even though few interpretations of Arthurian lore play upon Arthur’s role as a warrior, De Caestecker makes it believable and compelling. When his banishment comes to an end, you believe that he has been battling armies out beyond Britain for years.

The Winter King

A former warrior, now turned monk, tells the story of how Arthur became the lord of war despite the illegitimacy of his throne.

While Arthur is the central character of The Winter King , he is not the sole protagonist of the series. Cornwell’s novel is told as a retelling of historical events by the Saxon-born Derfel, and while the series strips away the narrative styling, it is through Derfel ( Stuart Campbell ) that many of the plots are explored. Derfel’s view of Arthur is entirely colored by the fact that he saved his life when he was a boy, which shapes him into an unreliable narrator. Even without Derfel putting pen to parchment to tell the tale of Arthur in The Winter King , the scripts borrow heavily from the novel down to the letter. Each character is shaped around Derfel’s opinion of them, whether it be Arthur’s prowess and battle acumen or the love and adoration Derfel feels for Nimue ( Ellie James ).

James’ portrayal of Nimue rivals all other interpretations of the legendary Lady of the Lake. She is unrepentantly headstrong and confident, even though the script does call for her to be punished for these attributes. Her relationship with Derfel is the heart and soul of the first half of the season, and even when they are at odds, they are still united. There are entire scenes between Derfel and Nimueh that are word-for-word what Cornwell published three decades ago, yet with James and Campbell bringing them to life they feel far more vivid and real. Where the book sometimes painted their dynamic as tenuous and one-sided, The Winter King seems keen to convince the audience that they have a genuine love for each other — and not just because that’s what Derfel is rewriting history to say.

How Does 'The Winter King' Series Compare to the Novel?

As with the novel that inspired the series, The Winter King is rather unforgiving with its female characters. They can be powerful and brave, but that power is quickly and brutally taken from them through rape. The Winter King is certainly not the first or last series to utilize rape as a means to build character or introduce new motives, a trend most notably used in series like Game of Thrones and Outlander . This plot device is an unfortunate side effect in many adaptations that borrow from fantasy novels that were written in a different era.

While some of this brutality is historically accurate—as invaders did pillage and plunder the kingdoms they squashed—it doesn’t have a place in media derived from fantastical works. There are other ways to strip a woman’s agency without robbing her of her god-given powers or forcing her to carry her rapist’s child because a god has seemingly decreed it. Cornwell’s novel is not particularly gratuitous in the way it describes the rape, even if Derfel is a bit aloof in the way he details it, and the series follows a similar narrative. It doesn’t treat it as something tawdry or titillating, and it is shown out of focus. While the scene is brief, there are long-lasting ramifications that are given a decent amount of attention. The series attempts to show the aftermath of the assault, though the recovery period does leave something to be desired, which is largely due to the viewpoint through which the world of The Winter King is presented.

It is a little baffling that a series co-created by a woman ( Kate Brooke ) and largely produced by women ( Jane Tanter , Julie Gardner , and Catrin Lewis Defis ) didn’t look to improve upon these issues with Cornwell’s novels, though perhaps we should credit them with aging up Nimue and removing the book’s predatory plotline between her and Merlin, in addition to transforming the female characters into actual, well-formed people, instead of reducing them to crones and hags that were just the extension of their male peers. Beyond the delicate topic of rape, The Winter King ’s creatives have vastly improved upon what Cornwell penned in the 1990s.

Derfel is still very much The Winter King ’s unreliable narrator, though the series has smartly veered away from the first-person styling of the novel. Rather than hearing about Arthur’s conflict with his father Uther ( Eddie Marsan ), the series lets it play out with far more intimate details than what Derfel heard about after the fact. Derfel may be at the center of The Winter King ’s world, but he is not the sole arbiter of its existence as he is in the novel. This gives the series a lot more freedom—especially when De Caestecker’s Arthur and James’ Nimueh are the most compelling roles in the series.

'The Winter King's Ensemble Cast Is a Treasure

The Winter King ’s ensemble cast is stacked with a real who’s who of British television. Marsan’s outing as King Uther is quite short-lived—much like Uther’s presence in the novel—but he gives a rather memorable performance. King Uther is a respected king, but he is far from being known as a respectable king, and Marsan effortlessly portrays him as such. By design, the series starts in the middle of a highly emotional moment for both the two with Marsan and De Caestecker delivering a believable dynamic that makes the betrayal of the scene that much more profound. With only the first half of the 10-part series available to review ahead of the premiere, it seems as though The Winter King is right on track to fully adapt the first book in Cornwell’s series.

Perhaps one of the more memorable plotlines at the book’s midway point is that of Owain’s and the series does an excellent job of setting it up. As with De Caestecker’s impressive transformation into the soon-to-be-king, Daniel Ings is nearly unrecognizable as Owain — especially for those who loved him in Channel 4’s Lovesick . Owain is an interesting character, though Cornwell’s book doesn’t afford him a lot of growth or nuance. The series does, fortunately. Ings is given a lot to work with, which helps to build up Owain’s character and prepare audiences for his impending plotline.

Martello-White is excellently cast as Merlin, even if he is somewhat underutilized by the story. Merlin is more of a secondary character in Cornwell’s interpretation of Arthur’s life, but The Winter King does manage to interweave him into the story more so than the novel did. He is there to establish his role in the characters’ lives, introduce the Druid magic systems, and act as a sort of omnipresent guide, by which most of the characters base their decisions. Martello-White and De Caestecker are great scene partners, though their moments are few and far between. In this, Merlin is more a father to Arthur than Uther ever was, and that bond will inevitably leave audiences wanting more.

The remaining ensemble cast is fleshed out by Simon Merrells as the terrifying and loathsome Gundleus, Tatjana Nardone as his Pagan lover Ladwyss, Valene Kane as a much-improved version of Morgan compared to the novel, Steven Elder as the mild-mannered Bedwin, and Andrew Gower as Sansum— who we have only just seen the beginnings of . Whether you have read the novel or not, The Winter King introduces each character in a way that allows you to see the direction their character might go, even if they aren’t prominent figures within Arthurian legends.

Did the Back Half of 'The Winter King' Live Up to Expectations?

As with the source material—both legend and Cornwell's epic—The Winter King delivered epic highs and epic lows for King Arthur and the inhabitants of Dunmonia as the season progressed. But it was Episode 6, which finally saw Guinevere ( Jordan Alexandra ) join the plot, where things really kicked into high gear. While Arthur was largely focused on uniting his kingdom with his allies (and enemies) through strategic political moves, his attempts to unite Dunmonia and Powys crumble when he decides he's more enthralled by Guinevere than his betrothed Ceinwyn ( Emily John ). Through it all, De Caestecker gives such phenomenal performances that will undoubtedly keep him booked and busy for years to come. The series ends on a bit of a heart-pounding cliffhanger, which begs the question of whether or not it will secure a second season. There are still a lot of stories left to tell from Cornwell's Warlord Chronicles, and The Winter King has brought together such an incredible ensemble cast, so it would be a shame to not see it all play out. Hopefully, now that the series is available to a wider audience in the United Kingdom, it will catch fire and secure a second season.

Is 'The Winter King' the Next Must-Watch Series?

If you enjoyed the political intrigue of House of the Dragon ’s power plays for the throne, then The Winter King is the exact series you need to tide you over until Season 2. While there is magic—expressed through practical craft that is rooted in the practices of the Druids and Pagans—the rich storytelling of Cornwell’s world is not what most envision when they conjure up images of King Arthur, Merlin, or Morgan. The series is largely about the warring factions of the British Isles, complete with unscrupulous warlords trying to maneuver their way into seats of power. The battles are bloody, and the politicking is ever-present.

The Winter King is a feast for the eyes, from the costuming that perfectly captures the simplicity of the era, to the lived-in sets, and sumptuous landscapes the story has been set against. These are all attributes that are expected of a Bad Wolf-produced series having previously brought us A Discovery of Witches and His Dark Materials . The writing is impressive as it borrows quite heavily from the original source material while still managing to bring something new to the table. That sort of one-to-one adaptation is seldom seen in book-to-screen adaptations, which will surely please fans of Cornwell’s writing. Whether you are a fan of Arthurian legends or looking for the next great historical epic, The Winter King is a must-watch.

Rating: 8/10

The Winter King debuted in the U.S. back in August and is available to stream in its entirety on MGM+. It is now available to watch on ITV's streaming service ITVX, which is free to anyone who pays a license fee in the United Kingdom.

WATCH ON MGM+

Iain De Caestecker
King Arthur

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The Woman King movie review & film summary (2022)

COMMENTS

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'The Winter King' Review
The Winter King is a realistic and epic adaptation of Bernard Cornwell's Arthurian legend, emphasizing historical context over fantastical elements.; Iain De Caestecker delivers a captivating ...
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