Widows: Compelling Criminal/Political Thriller!

From the trailer, this appears to be just a commercial robbery movie, but don't let it mislead you.  This is one of the best movies of the year and is a MUST SEE!  The Director (Steve McQueen, not to be confused with the great deceased white actor) has also co-written the script with Gillian Flynn ("Gone Girl" and "Sharp Objects").  McQueen has gotten terrific performances from the ensemble cast, and it's arguably the best screenplay of the year.  (I anticipate that McQueen will get AA nominations for both Best Director and Best Screenplay.) Harry Rawlings (Liam Neeson) is the leader of a four-man criminal gang.  In short flashbacks, the four men are briefly fleshed-out.  It's obvious that at least two have dysfunctional marriages, although Harry and his wife, Veronica (Viola Davis), are blissfully happy.  Harry and his men perform another robbery, but it goes south and all four of them get burnt to a crisp! While all this is going on, two men are running for congress.  Leading in the polls is Jack Mulligan (Colin Farrell), who is the son of the incumbent, Tom (Robert Duvall).  His opponent is an African American, Jamal Manning (Brian Tyree Henry), who is campaigning on the pledge to give the district back to the people and accusing Mulligan of corruption. It turns out that Rawling's crew has stolen $2,000,000 from Manning's campaign funds.  Manning sends his sociopathic brother, Jatamme (Daniel Kalouya), to threaten Veronica.  He tells her that if she doesn't get him the $2,000,000 back within a month, that he will kill her and the 3 other wives. Rawlings has left a book in a safe deposit box that Veronica retrieves.  It contains invaluable information with Harry's contacts and plans for his prior robberies.  It also, however, includes the plans for a future robbery.  Veronica gets the other wives together and, although they have never pulled off a robbery before, they have a chance to steal $5,000,000.  If successful, they can then pay off Manning and each have another $750,000 to start over.  As risky as this venture is, it seems preferable to a certain death!  Will these totally criminally-inexperienced women be able to pull it off? The above plot outline does not convey the depth and interesting themes riding piggy-back on this suspense-thriller, including socioeconomic class issues, racism, deceit, political corruption, marital conflict, and violence, among others.  The more I think about the film, the better I think it is.  It will almost certainly wind up in my Top 5 of the year!  If this film doesn't win at least 2 AAs, it's "highway robbery!"