The Widow

Affecting performances keep the series from going off the rails. Beckinsale again proves a compelling leading lady, capable of measured emotion without becoming overly maudlin even while wielding a machine gun and evading bad guys. Charles Dance and Alex Kingston imbue their characters with irascible humanity, and newcomer Shalom Nyandiko gives a beautiful and natural performance as young Adidja, a young Congolese girl forced to join a militia.

Beckinsale brings a stylish ferocity to the role of Georgia. ... The Widow, skillfully written by Harry and Jack Williams, doles out its clues on a need-to-know basis.

It’s a compelling puzzle, a potato-chip show — as soon as you finish one episode, you reach for another. ... If it is too busy and multifarious to be classed as a “white savior” movie — see the recent controversy over the Oscar-winning “The Green Book” — it certainly has elements of one. You will or will not find it distracting.

The Widow is a series that requires patience to appreciate. After the first two episodes, there wasn’t much to get excited about. But once the dots started connecting in episode three, I was intrigued.

It had an intriguing, if mad, plot, huge ambitions spanning three countries and complex strands including Congolese child soldiers. Unfortunately, the dialogue hadn't quite got the memo. For such a vaulting project, some of it was comically corny.

[Georgia's] quest is often compelling, but I found myself much more captivated by the traumatic journey of Adidja, kidnapped from a village and recruited as a child soldier, exposed to violence too early. [4-17 Mar 2019, p.10]

A weak-tea and eye-rolling bit of mystery and loss.