The Woman King: A Wonderful Experience

There have been plenty of good movies hitting the theaters in the last few months and I believe I found one that has become my ultimate favorite! This past weekend I had the privilege of watching The Woman King and I hope my excitement doesn’t keep me from sharing my thoughts coherently in this post.

This film was worth every penny and I wouldn’t hesitate to see it many times over. In fact, I’ll probably be purchasing tickets to see it again after I write this. The film was done overall in a way that I greatly respect.

From the storyline to the snippets of life lessons, there are many things I enjoyed, but for now, I’ll stick with talking about a few. One of the things I loved about this motion picture is that the plot, in some ways, goes against what we’ve typically seen in themes of war. At some point, a female lead will forsake all that she’s ever known and seek to build a new life with her recently discovered love, but that wasn’t the case for our dear Nawi, and honestly, I was very pleased with that! Not only did she find purpose, but connection among her fellow warriors, which is something she never got with her adopted family. To see her choose that over a future with someone she barely knew was very satisfying! Nawi unveiled who she really is, both literally and figuratively, and she chose to hang onto that.

Of course, I wouldn’t have minded if she and Malik did end up together, however, I just like this conclusion better! Speaking of Malik, both he and King Ghezo earned my admiration for the decisions they made. Malik finally understood that his inaction was also an encouragement for the horrible acts committed by the Europeans. Even though he didn’t truly support the slave trade, he didn’t do much to stop it either at first. Then, it was as if a light switch came on and he took a more proactive stance!

King Ghezo genuinely surprised me. I thought he would follow the example of other kings with many wives and succumb to the influence of a forked tongue hidden behind a beautiful face. Contrary to my expectation, he saw the bigger picture and admitted his faults while rewarding a faithful soldier at the same time. Furthermore, I relish a story that doesn’t just weave in bits of wisdom, but a handful of comedy too.

The Woman King is, by all means, an extremely serious historical account, but I applaud the writers for adding humorous nibbles here and there to briefly lighten the tone. I think they were strategically placed in a way that didn’t overpower the weighty atmosphere of the movie. Rather, I think they perfectly balanced it out. I’ll close out by expressing my sheer heartache for one of the characters and slight contempt for the writers.

Why? Why did you take Izogie away from us?! You knew she would be our favorite character, didn’t you? Admit it! Writers can be so cruel, you make us love a character and then kill them off! I’ll forgive you eventually, just let me wallow in my pain a bit longer. All in all, The Woman King is a beautiful movie about strength, unity, and finding the courage to face the inner demons that haunt you. I will definitely be watching this one again and I hope you all check it out too!