Advanced preview time… & this time its The Woman King. Didnt think wed get an advance of this so im very happy about this. This really is award season properly going it really really is.

Its pretty packed here, which im very happy about on a Tuesday night (gutted i cant come to next tuesdays preview but Grandmas 90th is much more important isnt it {its the actual day too}) Id say every age & gender too from mid 20’s to the couple who sat 4 seats along from me who look late 70s. Very happy with that.

Trailers Oppenheimer, the lost king (yes gutted im missing next week) Smile (probably not) Dont Worry Darling (yes booked for friday) & the weird film about exorcisms which i can never remember the name of.

& then the film started… & i can now officially say award season really has started.. oh boy it has.

Viola was sensational. She needs a nod for this for lead actress. If she doesnt then the other 5 need to pull out some of the best performances in the last 3 years. It was brilliant. She was strong, bold, blunt, in control, an emotional mess & determined & stubborn. & it all so worked. & she kicked arse, so much arse. For someone of that age to be kicking the shit out of that many people & making it look so good (okay yes theres editing but still) its a performance i wont forget in a long time.

The action set pieces throughout the film were all spectacular too & they were spread out enough that it just didnt become all about them like bang bang bang. They happened because they needed to & to progress the story not just for the sake of it. All were so well choreographed. There was genuine concern from me & others at my screening that some people werent going to make it at certain points. However for such a violent film, i was expecting a bit more bloody & guts that we actually got. Considering what these people did & who they killed, it wasnt as graphic as i thought it would be.

As far as morals for the film go no one really learnt any lesson at all in this film until the middle of act 3 & then you sat there & went so how long is this gonna stick for. I know it was more about attitudes & the peoples, but the morals everyone tried to teach just were never listened too at all.

Some stunning scenery & cinematography in this film, felt fully immersed in the era & time at point. So peaceful & beautiful & then it goes full on after that being like right shits going down. I mean that is very good light & shade isnt it.

Lashana was brilliant in her mentor role in the film, but i feel we needed to spend more time with her to make that mean more in act 3. I mean popping your broken arm back in isnt a good thing is it. ewwwwwwwwwwww a few people went oh god no when that happened.

John was good too, but i wasnt used enough. I get that its not his film, he just happens to be in it, but he felt undermined quite a few times.

If im being honest, it went on 10mins to long. There was one iconic shoot & i was like ahh it should end here & then something happened & i was like thats the end, but no we needed another 10mins to tie a few things up. I think the respect was there & we knew what would happen without it. It didnt need that. End it earlier, it has much more of an impact.

As much as the white guys are bad in this (& as a white Brit i apologies for my ancestors) i didnt really care when they were brought in during act 2, i didnt give a shit about any relationship or atrocities they did. & then the guy & his crew who ruined peoples lives & didnt give offers too, he was a good action villain but wasnt a good actor. They were all a bit to bland & we didnt see them enough or piss us off enough to properly despise them. A better actor in anyone of these 3 roles would have made us happier with the final outcome of the film &the revenge story like we were meant to.

It is one hell of a movie & it is the real way to start of this years award season. Its definitely going to stay in my mind this film. In years to come people will ask me did i watch The Woman King & i will go ohhh yes it was very good.