Clemency (2019)
Every year coming out of the Sundance Film Festival there are a series of films which get quite a bit of hype seeming to give our first talking points in the next season's award conversation. Coming out of the 2019 Sundance Film Festival one major movie that filled this role was Clemency. Clemency follows a strict prison warden named Bernadine (Alfre Woodard) who is starting to feel the effects of her job which includes supervising executions some of which recently have started to go wrong and face complications creating some really traumatizing situations that are quite literally keeping her up at night. Another very controversial execution on the horizon with a man named Anthony Woods (Aldis Hodge) being charged with death despite a lack of evidence linking him to the crime he is being blamed for. From a plot perspective alone this seems like a film with a level of relevance and emotional depth that could give it a boost in the awards conversation and two performances that got immediate wide attention. Things started to line up for the film following its debut with the film getting picked up for release by Neon and a late December release date putting it in a prime slot for a serious award run. Over the 10 months that followed its release though the hype and conversation surrounding the movie quickly faded with more and more mixed reviews coming out as the film traveled from festival to festival with Alfre Woodard being the only major contender that seemed to stay in peoples minds. When I finally got a chance to see the movie for myself I didn't know what to expect and just like the overall conversation that has been around this film I felt mixed. Where this plenty of good stuff in this film I couldn't help but feel like the film really struggled to find the thesis it wanted to explore and put together.
I do feel like the best place to start though is with the acting, as I mentioned even as the conversation for the film overall started to quiet down Alfre Woodard stayed in people's minds and after seeing the movie it is clear why. Woodard is easily the best part of this movie really delivering what I would say the performance of her career. Her performance is perfect at showing this character who is haunted by her career, you see this woman struggle to get these events she has had to face out of her mind and one really interesting element is how none of what she is haunted by is her fault. She is simply doing her job, even if she disagreed with an execution she would be powerless against what was happening. It's not her making any decisions, she is simply there doing a job and that level of powerlessness really added something to her character and made her have a more unique emotional story. There also has been quite a bit of support starting to build for Aldis Hodge and where he is good, personally I didn't think he was one of the best of the year. 2019 has been extremely strong when it comes to supporting actor performances and where his character does have some really intense and powerful moments I didn't find the performance to be the major highlight of those moments rather than the plot events themselves. Like I said he is good, but in comparison to the other performances of the year and in the same film of a performance like the one Alfre Woodard is performing he never really was able to stand out in a way that would make him one of the more standout performances of the year.
The cinematography from Eric Branco is also really good probably being the most underrated aspect of the film for me. Not only is it just smart with multiple scenes having dynamic visuals in pretty much one take with no cuts like a small scene where Anthony plays basketball out on the prison court but it is haunting. They do so much with the image of the table that the prisoners are strapped down to during executions creating a really terrifying visual that the film keeps going back to. The first scene in this movie also is just incredible, it is a scene of an execution and it brought my theater to silence and probably is my favorite opening of any film in 2019. It is beyond powerful and stunning making you sick to your stomach just as is should perfectly setting up the terror that Bernadine is going to suffer from as the film continues. Unfortunately though despite this really incredible start the movie struggles to capitalize on this and build a compelling story.
The cinematography from Eric Branco is also really good probably being the most underrated aspect of the film for me. Not only is it just smart with multiple scenes having dynamic visuals in pretty much one take with no cuts like a small scene where Anthony plays basketball out on the prison court but it is haunting. They do so much with the image of the table that the prisoners are strapped down to during executions creating a really terrifying visual that the film keeps going back to. The first scene in this movie also is just incredible, it is a scene of an execution and it brought my theater to silence and probably is my favorite opening of any film in 2019. It is beyond powerful and stunning making you sick to your stomach just as is should perfectly setting up the terror that Bernadine is going to suffer from as the film continues. Unfortunately though despite this really incredible start the movie struggles to capitalize on this and build a compelling story.
If I am being honest this movie is all over the place as far as a message and what it is trying to say. The character of Bernadine seems simple enough, she has seen so many horrors and is struggling from them yet the movie never seems to settle on what exactly is causing her to now start to face these demons. We get the sense that it is a newer issue but whether it's because of the recent executions that went wrong in front of her, the controversy surrounding Anthony's case and if he is actually guilty, the constant pressure by those around her (specifically a group of protestors outside the prison) in the debate over the death penalty, or something else entirely is a mystery and where I don't want to say the movie needed to just tell us about her motivations they needed to at least let us be able to understand what is happening especially as that is the main emotional driving force of the narrative. Without a clear motivation for Bernadine the movie also, therefore, lacks a clear motivation or thesis feeling messy and unfocused. I really wish this movie was able to put everything together as there are so many powerful emotions and interesting ideas present, they just never are able to put it together in an extremely meaningful or clear way.
I wish I could be more positive on Clemency especially as it has just some incredible moments that haunt you and stick with you. It has great acting and like I said a relevant story that could be a great addition to modern conversations on the death penalty and the people enforcing it adding an interesting and unique perspective on the topic. Sadly though the screenplay is just not there. I would recommend you check out Clemency if you get the chance but sadly it won't be anywhere near my best of the year list. It has the elements of greatness but never is able to reach greatness.
I wish I could be more positive on Clemency especially as it has just some incredible moments that haunt you and stick with you. It has great acting and like I said a relevant story that could be a great addition to modern conversations on the death penalty and the people enforcing it adding an interesting and unique perspective on the topic. Sadly though the screenplay is just not there. I would recommend you check out Clemency if you get the chance but sadly it won't be anywhere near my best of the year list. It has the elements of greatness but never is able to reach greatness.