Based on the real life, Agojie, the fearless warrior women who acted as the king’s guard and kept Dahomey (now Benin) safe in the 19th century, Gina Prince-Bythewood’s The Woman King is a thunderous action film. It praises the strength of Black women and the power of sisterhood. The Women King had been a passion project for Viola Davis for several years. She didn’t hold back when she finally got the opportunity to transform into Nanisca, the Agojie’s general.
In the film, Nanisca is focused on the future.
With a new king (John Boyega) on the throne, she is determined to pull Dahomey away from the slave trade. With her top soldiers, Amenza (Sheila Atim) and Izogie (Lashana Lynch), by her side, Nanisca has a new crop of recruits to train so that the Agojie may defeat their rival, tribe Oyo and be done with the slave trade for good.
However, Nawi (Thuso Mbedu), a defiant recruit, will show Nanisca that sometimes the best thing to do is turn your back on the rules.
Continue reading at Shadow and Act.
As a child, like most children I presume, I did not think of my parents as real people. They acted instead as my comforters and my providers, the people I stretched out my hands towards when I needed something. I was nearly out of the house before I considered what they might have given up; what dreams they may have sacrificed or brushed aside in the 60’s, the ’70s and ‘80s to provide my sister and myself with the best life that they could. For us, they moved through life often joyful but at times enraged; continually propping up a marriage that was long past its expiration date. Though I lived in their story with them, for the first part of my life, I observed as an outsider, labeling them as who they presented themselves to be instead of who they actually were. I, their eldest child, was guilty of not really seeing them in the full scope of their humanity.
When I first began seeing promo materials for “Suicide Squad,” whether on subway platforms or splashed across my TV screen, I was struck by the vibrant, in-your-face nature of the trailers and posters. It was riveting in a way that films rarely are. Warner Bros. seemed to be ripping this story straight from the pages of their beloved DC comic books, bringing the infamous Task Force X to life through stunning pop-up art and vibrant letters. A highly-anticipated film, with a diverse and star-studded cast, the villain riddled “Suicide Squad” got me all the way into the theater, only to abruptly leave me hanging a mere twenty minutes into the film.