Well, this one is a downer. It seems the aim of "Clemency" is more to solicit pity for its protagonist warden (Alfre Woodard in a performance some say was snubbed of an Oscar nomination) rather than be a polemic on capital punishment, although it's certainly an ugly portrait of the procedure--focusing mostly on how killing convicted men affects the warden, but also the other staff, the condemned men and those close to them, as well as a family of a man allegedly murdered by one of them (Aldis Hodge) sentenced to receive lethal injection. There are no courtroom or lawyerly heroics here (e.g. "Just Mercy," also released in 2019 and which I've recently reviewed) or last-minute-rescue by journalist investigation ("True Crime" (1999), say) or some such thing. There's only the depressing reality of the death penalty, which continues to be practiced in much of the United States.
It's easy enough to sympathize with the trauma Woodward's warden goes through, and the actress is fine in the role, although the lengthy close-up on her near the end arguably goes on for too long--albeit, as do other scenes in the movie--seemingly to tease out the tragedy of the situation. But, this character is an aging middle-class professional (you know the characters have some money when they sit down at a dinner table for the typical meal in such movies of wine and veggies) who lives only with her husband (Wendell Pierce). He speaks of the option of them retiring or moving. She angrily resists either despite the blatant psychological problems, including insomnia, she's experiencing from her career. It's hard to empathize with someone with such considerable mobility and wealth who nonetheless refuses to quit a job that's clearly harming her and her marriage--not to mention the morality of state-sanctioned executions. Another character, the lawyer (Richard Schiff), decides to retire from peddling hope, along with the fame and martyrdom promised by others, to the condemned. Heck, one of the warden's employees applies to be a warden at a prison that doesn't execute prisoners; why doesn't she do the same. As she informs hubby, she only wants him to know what pain such work causes her. The same is essentially told to the spectator with such showy filmmaking as that late long take of Woodward's face. Message received, I guess, but there are better options available, including as to what movie to see.
It's easy enough to sympathize with the trauma Woodward's warden goes through, and the actress is fine in the role, although the lengthy close-up on her near the end arguably goes on for too long--albeit, as do other scenes in the movie--seemingly to tease out the tragedy of the situation. But, this character is an aging middle-class professional (you know the characters have some money when they sit down at a dinner table for the typical meal in such movies of wine and veggies) who lives only with her husband (Wendell Pierce). He speaks of the option of them retiring or moving. She angrily resists either despite the blatant psychological problems, including insomnia, she's experiencing from her career. It's hard to empathize with someone with such considerable mobility and wealth who nonetheless refuses to quit a job that's clearly harming her and her marriage--not to mention the morality of state-sanctioned executions. Another character, the lawyer (Richard Schiff), decides to retire from peddling hope, along with the fame and martyrdom promised by others, to the condemned. Heck, one of the warden's employees applies to be a warden at a prison that doesn't execute prisoners; why doesn't she do the same. As she informs hubby, she only wants him to know what pain such work causes her. The same is essentially told to the spectator with such showy filmmaking as that late long take of Woodward's face. Message received, I guess, but there are better options available, including as to what movie to see.