Ever since I saw the first trailer for “The Woman King” I’ve been eagerly awaiting its arrival at our local theater.
At first, I was drawn in by its portrayal of the “Agojie” – an all-female warrior unit that protected the West African kingdom of Dahomey during the 17th to 19th centuries.
It had plenty of action sequences between raids, training, and other battlegrounds.
Even those scenes are well choreographed and not overly graphic – they’re just warriors getting straight to the point and moving over a busy battlefield.
However, I also mainly wanted to see it due to Viola Davis as General Nanisca because she is one of my favorite actresses and has an amazing range.
I can tell you that this epic dramatization of actual historical events is worth every penny spent on tickets and concessions!
The Woman King is a historical epic film about the Agojie and set in the 1820s.
It is directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood and written by Dana Stevens, based on a story she wrote with Maria Bello.
The film stars Davis, Thuso Mbedu, Lashana Lynch, Sheila Atim, Jayme Lawson, John Boyega, Jimmy Odukoya, Jordan Bolger, and Hero Tiffin.
It’s 135 minutes long and rated PG-13 for sequences of strong violence, some disturbing material, thematic content, brief language, and partial nudity.
In the West African kingdom of Dahomey during the 1820s, General Nanisca (Davis), leader of the all-female group of warriors the Agojie, liberates Dahomean women who were abducted by slavers from the Oyo Empire.
Once they return to their kingdom, Nanisca explains what she saw to King Ghezo of Dahomey (Boyega) and it prompts him to prepare for an all-out war with the Oyo.
Unfortunately, Nanisca has to deal with Ghezo’s wife Shante (Lawson) trying to get in the middle of their conversations and to paint Nanisca as not having the kingdom’s best interests at heart.
Shante wants the kingdom to stay rich by continuing to sell slaves to the Oyo and Europeans while Nanisca wants the kingdom to abolish its slavery practices and pursue exporting palm oil instead.
After losing several warriors in the last raid, Nanisca begins to train a new generation of warriors to join the Agojie in order to protect the kingdom.
Among these warriors is Nawi (Mbedu), a strong-willed girl who was offered by her father to the king after refusing to marry men who would beat her.
Nawi has always admired the Agojie and voluntarily enlists in training to become one of them.
Nawi befriends Izogie (Lynch), a veteran Agojie, and her trainer.
Nawi spends most of her training trying to make sure Nanisca sees her and is the best trainee even though time and time again she gets in trouble for being arrogant and not obeying her commanding officer.
European slavers led by Santo Ferreira (Tiffin) and accompanied by the half-Dahomean Malik (Bolger) arrive in Africa as part of an alliance with the Oyo, led by General Oba Ade (Odukoya).
Nawi encounters Malik while the latter is bathing, and the two become friends.
After completion of her training, Nawi reveals that she was adopted to Nanisca and shows a birthmark on her left shoulder, shocking Nanisca.
Then Nawi sneaks off to speak with Malik and learns that the Oyo are gathering their forces from neighboring tribes and are planning to attack.
She reports this to Nanisca, who admonishes her for her recklessness and for violating the laws about seeing men outside of the palace.
Overall, there’s more to this film than meets the eye and it’s worth experiencing on the big screen.
After all, its No. 1 across box offices in the US – why not take the risk and find out why for yourself?
