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Crackling Heist Thriller ‘Widows’ Takes On Issues Of Race, Class And Gender

Steve McQueen’s new film centers on four women who come together to pull off a $5 million robbery. Critic Justin Chang says:

“What do you do after you’ve made three studiously grim art films about an Irish prison revolt, an out-of-control sex addict and the horrors of slavery? If you’re Steve McQueen, the British director of Hunger, Shame and 12 Years a Slave, you cut loose with a crackling heist thriller featuring a juicy cast of A-list actors at the top of their game. But McQueen being McQueen, he can’t help doing this grand-scale Hollywood entertainment his way. As tense and sinuous and gripping as much of it is, Widows never feels like escapism. It has as much to say about how race, class, gender and politics intersect in American life as any movie I’ve seen this year.”