Clemency
Drama | English | 112 minutes
Info
Bernardine Williams is a warden in a death row prison. She has the reputation of being a stickler for procedure. Her words, her gestures and her expressions are carefully calculated, especially as she prepares each prisoner before the execution. She eases her stress with a few drinks at a local tavern after she leaves work. But her emotional pain does not let up at home and this alienates Jonathan, her long-suffering husband. Carrying out eleven death row executions has taken a toll on her. Bernardine’s life begins to crack when an inmate’s execution by lethal injection is terribly botched. But she must continue. This is the career she chose. She’s now counseling Anthony Woods, an inmate awaiting execution. Bernardine does not reveal any trace of sorrow or emotion when she questions Anthony about what he would like for his last meal and the family member who will claim his body. “Clemency” is not an argument for or against capital punishment. Instead, it’s a very nuanced film about how executing inmates, no matter how heinous the crime, can devastate a marriage and the person performing the executions. This is for certain: people watching this film will talk about it long after the film ends
Cast
Why Stream This Film?
- Rotten Tomatoes Score (Critics Consensus): 91%
- Metacritic Score: 77%
Accolades
-
Sundance Film Festival: Winner, Dramatic Grand Jury Prize
-
Philadelphia Film Festival: Winner, Best Feature
-
Independent Spirit Awards: Nominated, Best Feature; Best Female Lead (Alfre Woodward; Best Screenplay (Chinonye Chukwu)
Now streaming on:
The title of CLEMENCY refers to the mercy extended to a prisoner, but it’s the wisdom of this grave and sorrowful drama to spread the meaning to everyone in its view. The film observes its characters with a steady, unmodulated pace and a minimum of frills.
Woodward’s performance gathers its astonishing force incrementally, in subtle choices and inflections that you might not even register as actorly decisions. That same power is what finally undoes Bernardine, a tragic figure whom Woodward brilliantly dismantles piece by ravaged piece.
2019 has been filled with films about incarcerated men but none have gripped me quite like Chukwu’s masterwork. Alfre Woodward was more deserving of Oscar contention than the majority of the nominees selected by SAG and the Golden Globes.
YOU MIGHT ALSO CONSIDER:
The 39 Steps
During a performance at a London Music Hall, Richard Hannay hears a gunshot…
3 Faces
Behnaz Jafari is a popular actress in Iran. She sees a video of a young girl, Marziyeh, pleading for help to escape the stifling restrictions of her conservative family…
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
In 1987 Communist Romania, Otilia and Gabriela, two female college students, share a dorm room…
Contact
If you found this site helpful, please recommend it to a friend. We also welcome your comments.
info@streaming-flix.com / call 917-439-3364
P.O. Box 20038
New York, N.Y. 10075
0 Comments