2022 was an impossibly good year for movies. After years of pandemic-fueled drought, theaters suddenly burst back to life, fueled by a steady diet of excellent blockbusters. From The Batman and Top Gun: Maverick to Everything Everywhere All At Once and Nope, it was an old-fashioned abundance of riches, so much so that it feels impossible to name every film that broke big that year. But there’s one in particular that still feels left out of the conversation, a triumph of a film that broke box office records and garnered critical acclaim, but continues to feel robbed of the recognition it deserves.
That film is The Woman King. Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, and featuring a stacked cast led by Viola Davis, it’s one of the decade’s best historical epics. It’s also one of the most slept-on blockbusters of the 2020s, but now that it’s headed to HBO Max, it’s high time it gets a second look.
