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Widows

Widows

Drama · Crime · Thriller · 2018

A police shootout leaves four thieves dead during an explosive armed robbery attempt in Chicago. Their widows have nothing in common except a debt left behind by their spouses' criminal activities. Hoping to forge a future on their own terms, they join forces to pull off a heist.

Movie details

Widows

“Left with nothing. Capable of anything.”

2018 Drama · Crime · Thriller 2h 9m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.5 / 10

Community rating

A police shootout leaves four thieves dead during an explosive armed robbery attempt in Chicago. Their widows have nothing in common except a debt left behind by their spouses' criminal activities. Hoping to forge a future on their own terms, they join forces to pull off a heist.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Widows?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

A Most Violent Year

A Most Violent Year

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A thriller set in New York City during the winter of 1981, statistically one of the most violent years in the city's history, and centered on the lives of an immigrant and his family trying to expand their business and capitalize on opportunities as the rampant violence, decay, and corruption of the day drag them in and threaten to destroy all they have built.

Violent Ends

Violent Ends

Thriller · 2025

Lucas Frost, an honest man brought up in a crime family whose only legacy is violence, tries to make his own life with his fiancée, Emma. He is suddenly pulled back into the family business he so despises when his cousin, Eli, perpetrates an armed robbery on a local scrap yard and an innocent life is caught in the crossfire.

Butterfly on a Wheel

Butterfly on a Wheel

Crime · 2007

A sociopathic kidnapper methodically pushes a desperate pair of parents to their absolute breaking point.

The Usual Suspects

The Usual Suspects

Drama · 1995

Held in an L.A. interrogation room, Verbal Kint attempts to convince the feds that a mythic crime lord, Keyser Soze, not only exists, but was also responsible for drawing him and his four partners into a multi-million dollar heist that ended with an explosion in San Pedro harbor – leaving few survivors. Verbal lures his interrogators with an incredible story of the crime lord's almost supernatural prowess.

Primal Fear

Primal Fear

Crime · 1996

Defense attorney Martin Vail takes on jobs for money and prestige rather than any sense of the greater good. His latest case involves an altar boy, accused of brutally murdering the archbishop of Chicago. Vail finds himself up against his ex-pupil and ex-lover, but as the case progresses and the Church's dark secrets are revealed, Vail finds that what appeared a simple case takes on a darker, more dangerous aspect.

Thief

Thief

Crime · 1981

Frank is an expert professional safecracker, specialized in high-profile diamond heists. He plans to use his ill-gotten income to retire from crime and build a nice life for himself complete with a home, wife and kids. To accelerate the process, he signs on with a top gangster for a big score.

The Killing

The Killing

Crime · 1956

Career criminal Johnny Clay recruits a sharpshooter, a crooked police officer, a bartender and a betting teller named George, among others, for one last job before he goes straight and gets married. But when George tells his restless wife about the scheme to steal millions from the racetrack where he works, she hatches a plot of her own.

The Outfit

The Outfit

Crime · 2022

Leonard is an English tailor who used to craft suits on London’s world-famous Savile Row. After a personal tragedy, he’s ended up in Chicago, operating a small tailor shop in a rough part of town where he makes beautiful clothes for the only people around who can afford them: a family of vicious gangsters.

Sleuth

Sleuth

Thriller · 1972

A man who loves games and theatre invites his wife's lover to meet, setting up a battle of wits with potentially deadly results.

Scarface

Scarface

Crime · 1932

In 1920s Chicago, Italian immigrant and notorious thug, Antonio 'Tony' Camonte, aka Scarface, shoots his way to the top of the mobs while trying to protect his sister from the criminal life.

Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Steve McQueen

Written by

Gillian Flynn · Steve McQueen

Viola Davis

Viola Davis

Veronica Rawlings

Michelle Rodriguez

Michelle Rodriguez

Linda

Elizabeth Debicki

Elizabeth Debicki

Alice

Cynthia Erivo

Cynthia Erivo

Belle

Colin Farrell

Colin Farrell

Jack Mulligan

Robert Duvall

Robert Duvall

Tom Mulligan

Liam Neeson

Liam Neeson

Harry Rawlings

Court is in session

Put Widows on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Big-Idea Head

“Form is the argument.”

Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Technique in search of a pulse.”

Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.