Movie Review: Clemency

Clemency **** / *****

Directed by: Chinonye Chukwu.

Written by: Chinonye Chukwu.

Starring: Alfre Woodard (Warden Bernadine Williams), Aldis Hodge (Anthony Woods), Richard Schiff (Marty Lumetta), Wendell Pierce (Jonathan Williams), Michael O'Neill (Chaplain Kendricks), LaMonica Garrett (Major Logan Cartwright), Vernee Watson (Mrs. Collins), Danielle Brooks (Evette), Dennis Haskins (Mr. Collins), Richard Gunn (Deputy Warden Thomas Morgan).

 

Watching Clemency, I was reminded of Werner Hezog’s extraordinary documentary Into the Abyss from 2011 – his best documentary since Grizzly Man, and one of his best ever. Both films are about the death penalty – but ultimately go to a place rarely explored when the death penalty is discussed – the effect it has on the people tasked to carry out the executions themselves. In effect, the state is ordering them to kill another human being – and while one can certainly argue that they don’t have to take the job knowing that it will entail this, you also have to wonder about the type of people who could do this job for years on end and not be effected by it. They would be inhuman.

 

The main character in Clemency is Warden Bernadine Williams, played in a remarkable performance by Alfre Woodard, who over the years has overseen 12 executions – and this movie will begin and end with an execution. The first one is botched – the paramedic cannot find a vein to put the needle, there is bleeding out, it is a horrific site that no one can forget. And yet, Bernadine remains stone faced throughout and after. She is not an unfeeling monster – we see the effect it has had on her life in scenes with her husband, Jonathan, played by Wendell Pierce, who calls her an empty shell. She has tried to protect him for the dreams that make her sit bolt upright in bed at night, and have her fleeing to the safety of the couch to watch infomercials all night. But that can only last for so long. Jonathan wants to retire from being a teacher – wants them both to retire – and be happy living out their lives together. But Bernadine cannot do that – and cannot really express why she cannot.

 

The film follows the path of Anthony Woods (Aldis Hodge) – a young black man who has been on Death Row for 15 years now, and who has exhausted all of his appeals. His lawyer, Mary (Richard Schiff) is still fighting for him – but he knows it’s a long shot. They have no legal avenues left to go down, except to ask for Clemency from the Governor – who isn’t likely to grant it. We hear about Woods’ case mainly in passing – how it was a robbery gone bad, and a police officer was killed, but how even if the jury convicted Woods of being the man who pulled the trigger, that is based on very shaky evidence – and there is a lot more evidence to point at Woods’ co-conspirator. That may not be a good legal case – but it’s certainly a moral one. For Bernadine though, it doesn’t really matter. She is not there to decide Woods’ fate – Marty can get mad at her all he wants, but doing so won’t stop what happens to Woods. And Bernadine is the same facts only person when she talks to the victim’s parents – Dennis Haskins and Vernee Watson – as she is with Marty. Her hands are tied.

 

This is the second film by Chinonye Chukwu – and she is an extraordinary director, letting scenes play out mostly quietly, with subtle moments telling us what we need to know. In Woodard, she finds the perfect actress for Bernadine – one of those great character actresses who is normally great in everything, but doesn’t always get the attention she deserves (the fact that she was barely in the Oscar conversation this year is absurd – a fault of voters yes, but also the studio who had the Grand Jury Prize Winner from Sundance, and barely released it in the final days of 2019, essentially burying it). Most of her performance’s greatness is in her subtle looks and movements – the way she recoils from Jonathan, the way she tries to pretend she isn’t drunk at the bar, the way she lets down her assistant warden (Richard Gunn) in a scene that tells us everything we need to know about them without telling us anything explicitly. The way Bernadine is imprisoned, much like her inmates, in that prison – and never gets out, even while at home. It all leads to a remarkable three-minute shot near the end of the film entirely on Woodard’s face which tells us everything.

 

I wouldn’t say that Hodge is equally good as Woods – but that’s because Woodard is extraordinary. He gets a few speeches himself – but is mainly silent, unable to speak when the Warden comes to talk to him, unable to really process what is going on. There is extraordinary scene between him and Danielle Brooks, playing his old girlfriend, who comes to see him to let him know – for the first time – that he has a son. It is a showcase for Hodge, yes, but even more one for Brooks – who pours herself into what is essentially a cameo, and delivers the good.

 

Clemency deserved better than it got from its distributor – it deserves to be seen and debated, and taken seriously. It’s basically been buried in the rush of year end films, all vying for Oscar nominations – one of which was Just Mercy, which also didn’t break into the Oscar conversation, but is making some decent money at the box office. Clemency is as challenging as Just Mercy is not. If you can see it, do so. It should be in the conversation at this time of year.