25 must-see films playing at this year’s AFI Fest

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Widows

What’s the story?: Four women whose husbands die during a robbery gone wrong must get gangsters off their backs by completing the final heist their men couldn’t carry out.

Director Steve McQueen has previously looked at the lives of men with works like Hunger and Shame. His latest is a woman-driven adaptation of a British miniseries that many are calling a close cousin to this year’s other heist film, Ocean’s 8. Unlike Ocean’s 8, though, the women of Widows are all business. Viola Davis leads the group and the first trailer is all about showing she’s in charge. The movie emphasizes how often women are underestimated – “they don’t think we’ve got the balls to pull this off” – and I definitely believe Viola Davis could pull off any crime she sets her mind to.

She’s complemented by Elizabeth Debicki, who stole every scene she’s in during Guy Ritchie’s Man From UNCLE, Cynthia Erivo, who continues to showcase her talents after landing on everyone’s radar with Bad Times at the El Royale, and Michelle Rodriguez, the longest leading lady of the Fast and the Furious franchise. The film has received universal acclaim since premiering at the Toronto International Film Fest earlier this year, and I’m ready to finally cross it off my list.