The Woman King (2022)
The Woman King (2022) Weirdly overlooked at the Oscars this year, Gina Prince-Bythewood's epic set in West Africa in the early 1800s is exactly the kind of thing Viola Davis could have been forgiven for pencilling in a Best Actress nomination for. She's brilliant as General Nanisca, the leader of a crack group of women warriors, the Agojie, in the kingdom of Dahomey. After breaking their countrywomen free from slavers, they bring down the wrath of their neighbours, the Oyo Empire. Nanisca starts training a new generation of warriors for the coming fight, while the memory of a trauma in her past returns. Historians were somewhat split on how closely the film cleaves the actualities of the Agojie, but this is bold, stirring stuff.