Clemency 2019
I had never heard of this movie, but found it in a Screen Pass collection. It got very good reviews, so I picked it out. This is a movie about the death penalty, taken primarily from a prison warden’s perspective. The warden is played by Alfre Woodard, who is absolutely solid for the most part despite a role that requires her to be drunk, to be emotional, to be cold, and who is going through a personal crisis of having to supervise the killing of prisoners. There are a few moments that seemed a little off though. Several of the characters struggle with their jobs that keep them close to the sanctioned killing of prisoners, which I‘m sure is true. The performances are all good, but the the movie is very, very slow and seems a little aimless. The characters don’t seem completely realistic, more like portrayals of characters. Other than the warden, you don’t really get to know much about any of them. The warden seems to get very involved with death row inmates, even going to their cells to ask about their last meals, which seems like would be handled by someone lower down. But when the governor’s office calls about staying an execution (or not) they call her assistant? The movie still has an impact because of the subject matter and performances, but I feel like it wasn’t really saying anything, just exploring these characters and saying it is sad when people die.
Written: 15 Dec 2021