‘The Woman King’ is Gina Prince-Bythewood’s home run and Viola Davis’s last word

In the culminating scene of Viola Davis’ latest, “The Woman King,” she is crowned as the king’s right-hand and sits by his side. After 33 years in the industry, it felt as though Davis herself was receiving the crown she had long worked for.

“The Woman King” fictionalizes the true story of the Dahomey Kingdom in West Africa — the present-day region of southern Benin. Dahomey partook in the Atlantic slave trade by selling African people to Europeans and capturing Africans during battle to be enslaved and at times sacrificed by Dahomey. The kingdom is most known for its all-women military named the Mino or Agojie (called Amazons by Europeans). The Agojie were described as ruthless with such training exercises as scaling thorn-covered walls. “The Woman King” draws on this moment in history and reimagines what could have been had the villains become heroes.

The film premiered Friday at the Toronto International Film Festival. The cast includes Davis (Nanisca, the army general), Lashana Lynch (Izogie, a warrior), Thuso Mbedu (who plays Nawi, a new warrior), Sheila Atim (Amenza, a warrior and Nanisca’s adviser) and John Boyega (King Ghezo).

Director Gina Prince-Bythewood (“The Old Guard,” “Love & Basketball”) said the moment felt definitive.

“Within five seconds of reading (the script),” where Davis and the Agojie, “rise above the grass, I was like, I want to shoot that. And the more I read and started to see, not only are we telling the story we’ve never heard but also there are these beautiful relationships and personal stories weaved within it so organically, ” Prince-Bythewood said.

Prince-Bythewood noted “historical epics” like “Braveheart” — one of her favourite films — “Gladiator” or “Last of the Mohicans” missed this mark, inspiring her goal for the last ten years to create a film that did not. It was a “fight,” she says, as Hollywood could not see the value in Black stories.

“I still feel it’s a miracle this film got made but certainly ‘Black Panther’ kind of shifted perception (and) proved we are an audience. Our stories do have value. People will come to see us if we make a good film,” Prince-Bythewood shared.

During a Twitter panel on Friday, with the cast, Davis said non-Black/African people should be in attendance for this story too. She noted the importance of the film not having a white saviour and being led by an all-Black, dark-skinned woman cast. Many applauded Davis not shying away from addressing colourism, an ongoing issue in Hollywood.

In the movie, as in reality, Davis is a fierce and dedicated leader. She knows when to show strength and balances it against a muted vulnerability; her moments of honesty still carry a shield. Agojie women are told to “kill” their tears in the film, but Davis (like Nanisca) still carried sorrow. The cast thanked Prince-Bythewood for handling the emotions and generational burdens of Black women with such care.

“In learning more about who I am and what the strong Black woman trope means for the world, I have a responsibility to dismantle that trope through my art and the directors that I work with … They just don’t know what they’re asking of me. They don’t know where the strength comes from,” Lynch said at the panel.

Lynch described the automatic comfort and understanding that came from Prince-Bythewood. Such as not needing to explain how a Black woman talks or reacts, not feeling like she was taking up space and the ability to arrive on set relaxed because there would be Black people leading departments (such as the film’s Black head of hair department and Black crew members). Particularly, as they are dealing with such triggering themes as enslavement, Black crew members understood the type of support the actors needed.

Asked about the challenges of creating the film, Prince-Bythewood spoke of this. The movie was shot in South Africa and parts of Ghana (location was based on crew availability and space) and, she explained, actors felt connected to their ancestors as they walked on African soil. Similar to the physicality of the shoots — actors trained and performed the majority of their stunts — the emotional toll was hefty.

“This was the toughest shoot of my career. I know it was the toughest for a lot of the actors … When you’re putting somebody in shackles,” movie or not, “it is real (to the actors),” Prince-Bythewood said.

Lynch said the cast and crew worked as a “collective” to bring it to life and that the idea of togetherness inspired another element of the film — the amalgamation of the diaspora.

“From the outset, I knew what I wanted the cast to look like. I wanted to pull from all over the diaspora — South Africans, West Africans, people based in London, Jamaica, America; I wanted all of us to come together, to tell the story together,” Prince-Bythewood said.

“The Woman King” has been accused of glamorizing the truth. The Dahomey Kingdom stopped participating in the slave trade after the British forcefully closed its port. At the end of the film, the slave ships are seen departing — a moment of victory as the Dahomeys are reimagined as the ones who fought to end enslavement, rather than the reality where they fought to encourage it. Prince-Bythewood wants viewers to know it gets addressed.

“I think there’s an assumption that we’re not dealing with it … We are telling the truth,” Prince-Bythewood began. The Agojie women did try to stop Dahomey’s participation in enslavement, preferring to trade palm oil. “The intent of this film (is) certainly to celebrate these women, celebrate the kingdom (of Africa), the beauty, the fact that there were kings and queens.”

The film draws from 1800s West Africa, adopting its mannerisms, cultural practices (both the good and bad), and is in part a reflection of a part of African origin. Prince-Bythewood made clear this was one story and hoped it would inspire many more. At the Twitter panel, the cast echoed her statement, with Davis encouraging other storytellers to fight for their voice and values the way Prince-Bythewood fought for the authenticity of “The Woman King.”

“I know a lot of you have different jobs, you have different careers and you’ll do anything to get to the top, including selling your voice,” Davis started, with a sternness in her voice. She explained the film industry was tough with little reward for those who are new. This has resulted in a loss of self among creatives. “What I want people to take from this movie is that your inner voice belonging to yourself is your warrior fuel. Hey, that is your soul. That is the fight.”

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