Director Chinonye Chukwu uses Clemency to explore the psychological state of those sentenced to death and the ones who ultimately will take their lives at the hands of the law. Bernadine Williams (Alfre Woodard) is a death row prison warden, and her profession is beginning to haunt her. At home, Williams has nightmares featuring her inmates, seeing herself in their position, about to receive a lethal injection, and suffers from having to execute yet another prisoner at work.

Clemency is a more in-depth look into the “tough on crime” American judicial system. The film opens with an execution, and the audience is never told what the man’s crimes are to help empathize with his suffering. Additionally, the paramedic charged with administering the heart-stopping drugs struggles to find his veins; he is still conscious as the drugs enter his system. This is the first time in Clemency that we see the miserable reality of lethal injection. Those involved with administering the lethal injection cannot help but feel guilty as they are forced by the law to execute the person.

The prisoner that receives the bulk of Clemency’s focus is Anthony Woods (Aldis Hodge). Sentenced to death after killing a cop in a robbery gone wrong, Woods has been waiting on death row for 15 years, forever maintaining his innocence. As a black woman, Chukwu meticulously handles with care how black men are treated in the eyes of the law. In Woods’ case, the audience learns more details regarding his actions.

Chukwu’s writing makes it clear that his case has reasonable doubt, portraying that it is often black men who receive harsh punishments for questionable actions. Woods and his legal team still hope for clemency, which can be granted up until the last second before execution. Nevertheless, hoping for a miracle is taking a toll on them: Woods attempts self-harm in his cell, and his lawyer plans to retire after Woods’ case, he cannot see another one of his clients die.

The actors in Clemency give the film its heart. The audience is able to empathize with every single one of the characters. Alfre Woodard puts on a spectacular performance as Warden Bernadine Williams. Among her colleagues, she is stoic and detached from her emotions as she witnesses lethal injections. At home, she is haunted by her actions, unable to sleep and suffering from nightmares. Woodard perfectly balances the two sides of Bernadine Williams. Aldis Hodge’s performance as Anthony Woods is just as tremendous. He holds out hope for clemency throughout the film, but the toll death row is taking on him appears horrific as well. Woods struggles to maintain his hope as more and more people give up on him and Hodge shows this trajectory with subtle emotion; his face becomes defeated as the film goes on.

Chukwu wrote Clemency in addition to being the film’s director. While she is brilliant at handling the serious subject matter, the film feels sparse at times, especially during the second act. There are plenty of scenes with quietness and pauses, reflective of the waiting one does on death row, which however borders on dull from time to time. The pacing is quite slow, but Clemency is an outstanding drama that questions the ethics of state-sanctioned murder, while asking why black men receive the harshest punishments for their alleged crimes.

CLEMENCY is released December 27th 2019

Clemency

The Lodge

Doctor Sleep: Directors Cut