Synopsis
Years of carrying out death row executions have taken a toll on prison warden Bernadine Williams. As she prepares to execute another inmate, Bernadine must confront the psychological and emotional demons her job creates, ultimately connecting her to the man she is sanctioned to kill.
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Cast
- Alfre WoodardWarden Bernadine Williams
- Richard SchiffMarty Lumetta
- Aldis HodgeAnthony Woods
- Wendell PierceJonathan Williams
- Danielle BrooksEvette Wilkinson
- Michael O'NeillChaplain David Kendricks
- Richard GunnDeputy Thomas Morgan
- LaMonica GarrettMajor Logan Cartwright
- Vernee Watson-JohnsonMrs. Collins
- Dennis HaskinsMr. Collins
Recommendations
- 83
IndieWire
Chukwu maintains an impressive command over her material, but Woodard herself becomes the movie’s central storyteller. - 80
The Hollywood Reporter
It's the humanity and compassion invested across all the principal characters that makes this contemplative examination of the terrible weight of taking a life so commanding. - 80
Los Angeles Times
It’s a sterling piece of American realism, powered by the transfixing spectacle of a great actor at the peak of her powers. - 80
The Guardian
There’s little room to breathe in writer-director Chinonye Chukwu’s constricting, devastating drama Clemency, an intentionally airless film processing a tough subject through an unusual viewpoint. - 75
The Film Stage
Clemency is a thoroughly draining experience as if we’re placed in purgatory with no means of escape, but it’s ultimately powerful in the ways it shows how the death penalty has consequences for everyone involved. - 75
Movie Nation
In Woodard’s stillness is a singularly great performance from a career decorated with them. - 75
Slant Magazine
Chinonye Chukwu’s film is a morality play with a true sense of contradiction and melancholia. - 70
Variety
If Woodard is hoping for her overdue second Oscar nomination after 1983’s “Cross Creek,” she’s got a decent shot with this excruciating character arc. Yet, the actress is even better in the scenes where Bernadine simply gets drunk, even if she still can’t talk about anything but work.
