Widows (15)
Directed by Steve McQueen
 

ACADEMY Award-winner Steve McQueen's new female heist drama is one of those rare films that's both a hugely entertaining popcorn feature while being socially and politically relevant. And it certainly puts women in the driving seat.

Based on Lynda La Plante's trailblazing mini-series Widows, McQueen, who co-wrote the screenplay with Gillian Flynn's (Gone Girl), has relocated the action from 1980s London to present-day Chicago in what's a pulse-raising thriller set against the backdrop of race relations, crime, political corruption and grief.

When Harry Rawlings (Liam Neeson), the criminal husband of Veronica (Viola Davis), is killed during a daring robbery with his crew, she soon learns he owes $2 million to some dangerous people which still needs to be paid off.