An obvious emotive and provocative subject for the second feature by writer / director Chinonye Chukwu, following alaskaLand (’12), the story of Clemency was inspired by the execution of prisoner Troy Davis in Georgia in 2011, a heavily contested case and verdict which generated international controversy.

This fictional story is given an immediate boost by the presence of the superb Viola Davis (Knight And Day / Blackhat), no relation to Troy Davis, but giving a remarkable and moving performance as prison warden Bernadine Williams, a woman for whom, for so many years, executions of prisoners have been part of her routine, although no prison warden has probably had to deal with them with such regularity as in Chukwu’s script, and this routine of almost industrialised killing is affecting her outside the prison walls, making her drink heavily and badly affect her home life, her deeply sympathetic husband (an unexpectedly gentle turn from Wendell Pierce - TV’s The Wire / Treme) wanting her to leave the post, seeing the damage it is doing to her.

It is never made clear what has tipped her hand, a botched procedure early not seeming to affect her unduly, and she still attends the preamble to the actual events, watching all the stages up to and including the final culmination of sentence in the death chamber, but it is obvious that this is become more and more difficult, as she approaches dealing with the case of Anthony Woods (Aldis Hodge - Straight Outta Compton / The Invisible Man), a quiet, placid prisoner whose lawyer, Marty Lumetta (the excellent Richard Schiff - TV’s The West Wing / The Good Doctor), has finally come to the end of the appeals process over several years, meaning Woods’ execution has finally been scheduled. With Woods quietly insisting his innocence, and Bernadine finding that he has a child he has never met, this particular case, after so may before it. deeply affects her, but whether is is a certain moment of realisation, or sudden unexpected empathy, or just the grinding erosion of all these years is unclear.

Chukwu certainly loads the deck towards Woods, who at times seems to be the most stable and calm of all of the characters, at times rivalling Michael Clarke Duncan’s John Coffey in The Green Mile (’99) in near beatitude, and there are some surprising volte-face, such as Evette (TV’s Orange Is The New Black / Master Of None), reappearing in his life after years and promising to introduce him to his son for the first time, then suddenly changing her mind seemingly for no reason than just to twist the emotional knife for the audience just a little more. The acting kudos should certainly go to Davis, giving another memorable performance in a career when at times she has been the one saving grace in a number of films, but mention should also be given the the reliable Schiff as the dedicated by weary lawyer Marty, their scenes together only hinting at their shared professional history and perhaps hidden feelings for each other.

Receiving almost entirely positive reviews in limited release, The Film Stage calling it ‘ … a thoroughly draining experience as if we’re placed in purgatory with no means of escape, but it’s ultimately powerful in the ways it shows how the death penalty has consequences for everyone involved’, many focused on Davis’ performance, RogerEbert.com enthusing ‘You can literally spot the moment when her soul appears to have left her body. This is screen acting of a very rare sort, and Clemency is a vital emotional powerhouse sorely deserving of being seen’, as The Los Angeles Times believed ‘It’s a sterling piece of American realism, powered by the transfixing spectacle of a great actor at the peak of her powers’. Consolidating this, Movie Nation noted ’In Davis’ stillness is a singularly great performance from a career decorated with them.

On the festival circuit, the film picked up the US Dramatic Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance FF, and a major gong from the Philadelphia FF.