52 Films by Women Vol 7. 13. THE WOMAN KING (Director: Gina Prince-Bythewood)
When I started this blog seven years ago [in 2015], I did not envisage a Black American woman given $50 million to make an action-packed historical drama set in a country I’d never heard of. The Woman King , a modest box-office hit (domestic gross $63 million and counting) represents progress. Gina Prince-Bythewood didn’t write the screenplay (credited to Dana Stevens from a pitch by the actress Maria Bello) but proves the perfect match of director to subject matter; her previous credits include the Netflix superhero movie, The Old Guard , in which she demonstrated her action movie chops. Set in 1823 during the reign of King Ghezo (1818-58), The Woman King tells the story of a group of women warriors, the Agojie, led by Nanisca (Viola Davis) who defend Dahomey against a rival kingdom. It is a story of love, sacrifice and kicking men’s ass that hits every note it reaches for. Dahomey, renamed Benin in 1975, is situated in West Africa, nestled between Togo and Nigeria, with a mo...