McQueen sets a relentlessly portentous tone and employs lots of stark mise-en-scene, but all the fuss feels arbitrary here - the pulpy story simply doesn't warrant such grave stylization.

A thriller for modern women who identify more with the messiness of human lives than with flattened slogans about how great women, as a monolithic group, are.

There can be power in kindness and in camaraderie alongside crime and corruption, and that is the nuance, the depth, and the politics Widows provides.

It’s unapologetically stark in its portrayal of violence, grief and corruption. But it’s also endlessly entertaining thanks to McQueen and Flynn’s talents, as well as the complexities of the characters and their wonderful performers.