Chinonye Chukwu’s ‘Clemency’ Will Devastate You, Which Is Precisely Her Goal
The drama, starring Alfre Woodard, focuses on the inner turmoil of a death row prison warden on the verge of a breakdown
Warning: This piece contains spoilers from the film Clemency
After the first act in Chinonye Chukwu’s Clemency settles, it becomes clear that the world the director and screenwriter has brought to life lies in the protagonists’ sorrowful brown eyes. Unlike some of her peers, the Nigerian-born screenwriter and director doesn’t rely on long monologues or heavy-handed chitchat to convey the pain, despair, and terror her characters are facing in the halls of a men’s maximum security prison.
Chukwu, 34, seems to have followed the same advice she often gives the film students she teaches at Wright State University: “Show, don’t tell.” And what she shows us through every look, eye flutter, and tear will haunt the hell out of you.
“So much of this story is about the internal battles they face, so the life is in the silence, Chukwu tells ZORA.
In these quiet moments, we learn that Bernadine, a Black female prison warden (played by Alfre Woodard), is at an emotional crossroads after overseeing a botched lethal injection…
