Alfre Woodard is nearing legend status if she isn’t there already and has been a terrific character actor for decades. While she first got her start in movies — earning a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for 1983’s “Cross Creek” —more recently, she’s played major roles in several hit television shows, including “A Series of Unfortunate Events,” “Empire” and “Luke Cage.” Now, she’s starring in Chinonye Chukwu’s critically-acclaimed “Clemency,” a heavy drama that premiered earlier this year at Sundance to great raves (including ours) about a warden drifting away from her husband while she executes death row inmates in a maximum-security prison.
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After a long career in the industry and stacking up several solid performances in said television shows, it’s safe to say it’s Woodard’s time to shine in a film that already took Sundance by storm and the Oscars could be next. “Clemency” landed a spot on the 2017 Athena List, recognized for screenplays with powerful female protagonists.
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For her part, Chukwu has written and directed several short films and one feature film. She’s also received the Princess Grace Award Film Graduate Scholarship and Princeton University’s Hodder Fellowship. Back in January, the Sundance Institute said, “Director Chinonye Chukwu crafts a dense, emotional film through masterful restraint and precision, drawing forth radiant performances that illuminate the internal grapplings of people searching for redemption and self-recognition.” Our review was absolutely glowing about Woorard’s performance.
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Here is the synopsis and the new trailer:
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How do you salvage your marriage when you are struggling to salvage your soul, your sense of self, and your sense of right and wrong? Bernadine Williams (Alfre Woodard) is a prison warden who, over the years, has been drifting away from her husband while dutifully carrying out executions in a maximum-security prison. When she strikes up a unique bond with death-row inmate Anthony Woods (Aldis Hodge), a layer of emotional skin is peeled back, forcing Bernadine to confront the complex—and often contradictory—relationship between good intentions, unrequited desires, and what it means to be sanctioned to kill.
Indie studio Neon Releasing will release “Clemency,” which also features “Orange Is the New Black” star, Danielle Brooks, plus Aldis Hodge, Wendell Pierce, and Richard Schiff, on December 27, right at the tail end of awards season.
