10 June 2023
The Woman King (2022)
Shot in South Africa and Ghana with Moonlighting, The Woman King follows the epic journey of General Nanisca (Oscar winner Viola Davis) as she trains the next generation of recruits in preparation for battle against colonialists determined to destroy their way of life.
Davis won Best Actress in an Action Movie at the 2023 Critics Choice Super Awards, while The Woman King took home six wins at this year’s Black Reel Awards, including Outstanding Film, Director (Gina Prince-Bythewood from The Old Guard), Ensemble Cast, Score (five-time Grammy winner Terence Blanchard) and Outstanding Breakthrough Actress for Pietermaritzburg-born South African actress Thuso Mbedu (Is’Thunzi, The Underground Railroad).
The epic cast includes BAFTA and Critics Choice Award winner John Boyega (Star Wars’ Finn, Small Axe, Attack the Block); Uganda-born BAFTA nominee Sheila Atim (The Underground Railroad, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness); BAFTA winner Lashana Lynch (No Time to Die, Captain Marvel, Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical); Teen Choice winner Hero Fiennes Tiffin (Hardin Scott in the After film series); Beninese-French superstar and five-time Grammy winner Angélique Kidjo; rising South African star Masali Baduza (Noughts + Crosses), SAFTA winners Siv Ngesi (Dam, Tali’s Baby Diary, Still Breathing) and Seputla Sebogodi (The River, The Republic, Generations), and South African Miss Universe 2019 Zozibini Tunzi in her debut film role.
The Woman King has a 94% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, where the critics’ consensus simply says: “All hail Viola Davis! The Woman King rules.”
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