Deborah Ross

Held me so fast I was outbid on eBay: Clemency reviewed

This death-row film is certainly a tough watch but it is also a masterwork

Alfre Woodard is formidable as prison governor Bernadine in Clemency. Image: Paul Sarkis 
issue 18 July 2020

Clemency stars Alfre Woodard as a prison warden on death row whose job is beginning to take its toll, and if you think it sounds like a tough watch, you’d be right. But it is also a masterwork, won the Grand Jury prize at Sundance, and doesn’t at any juncture call on the uplifting, healing power of cake — see: Love Sarah — so it has that going for it too.

This film held me so fast I was outbid on eBay on a vintage sideboard I’d had my eyes on for ages

It’s yet another film that you’ll have to stream...

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Disagree with half of it, enjoy reading all of it

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