Widows the movie was perhaps my favorite film of 2018. A crackling crime thriller with polished dialogue and sharp social commentary, it’s the best crime movie I’ve seen in recent years. I didn’t know until after seeing it that it was based on an English time show created by famed auteur Lynda La Plante. The book is a tie-in to the show.
La Plante’s Prime Suspect was one of my least favorite reads in 2018. It wasn’t bad by any stretch, but the writing felt static. I later learned that the book was a product of her taking the screenplay for Prime Suspect and condensing it into a novel, which explained a lot.
Presumably, she’s doing the same thing here but much more effectively. Like the movie which it is loosely based, Widows is engrossing and fun. The characters are described in rich detail and the book hums with energy that makes you buy into each twist and turn. I felt an empathy for the four women drawn into this situation and what they brought to the table. Less so for the cops and male criminals. The book functions best when focused on the women.
And even though it’s quite different from the book, director Steve McQueen cribbed the best part of the British version for his own: how these women live, how they function, how they grieve, how they succeed and fail. I’m not a woman so maybe it’s not my place to say but both the book and the movie felt so genuine. They’re not perfect BADASSES, nor are they irreparable flawed or exploited. They’re just trying to live their lives, with this new, massive undertaking hanging over them. And in the book (and movie) it unfolds in such an engrossing way.
I liked this book a lot. I really want to like the show. Here’s to hoping we get it in the states at some point.
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