Fences | Film Review

Hey Guys x

I just went to see Fences, continuing my goal of seeing all (or most) of the Oscar 'Best Picture' nominees before the Oscars on Sunday.

This is a film that I didn't hear much about before seeing it, so I kind of went in completely blind, not expecting anything one way or another.

It's about a black family living in the 1950's. Troy (played by Denzel Washington) and Rose (played by the incredible Viola Davis) are married and doing all they can to raise their family the right way. But when their son Cory reveals his wish to play football, this leads to tension, animosity and unearthed secrets that threaten to tear the family apart.

That's all I can say without spoiling anything, but if I could include spoilers, there would be a lot more to that plot description!

I came out of the cinema not really knowing how I felt about this film, and I still don't. On the one hand, it was touching, there were such powerful, amazing moments, and I enjoyed watching it. But on the other hand, there were times when I drifted into my own world and missed what was happening on screen, or I was thinking 'that makes no sense, why would he do that?', there was some things (one major thing really) which never really had an explanation, and I'm still wondering whether it needed one or not.

Viola Davis though. She's amazing, completely incredible! I mean, she's incredible in life anyway, but in this film she was completely phenomenal, she took my breath away in moments.

I didn't know until the credits rolled that the film was actually directed by Denzel himself, he did an amazing job with it! It kind of felt like a passion project rather than just a film that was made because it could be, and I really liked that homely feel to it.

Speaking of the homely feel, what I found the most amazing about the film was that, the vast majority of the film was set in one location, their family home. It amazed me how much emotion, how many laughs and tears and arguments could be packed into that one location, and I think more films should be done that way.

I would definitely recommend this film, particularly if not entirely because of Viola's performance, but either way, it's a very interesting film and, if you go into it knowing not much, like I did, there are a good few surprises along the way.

Thank you for reading!

Comment below whether or not you're planning to see this!

Lou xx