A decent if unremarkable thriller
Wingwomen is a French action comedy movie starring Melanie Laurent, Adèle Exarchopoulos and Manon Bersch. Melanie also helms the director’s position for this one and does a good job at it. It is easy for one to be biased when one is a lead and also a director for a project, so it’s great to see that she gives ample space for the story to flow, the characters to breathe and the narrative to find its course under her guidance as a director.
Wingwomen is a tale of women having each other’s back and supporting each other through thick and thin. Carole and Alex have developed a domestic routine between the two after years of knowing, working and living with each other. Both know how the other is going to act or react in any given situation. Sam, despite joining recently, forms a strong bond with the two.
Te characters are not gender normative. Carole gives birth to her son without being married and Alex is not shy to experiment with her sexuality. Even the boss, Godwoman, is a woman who has the world at her fingertips. Throughout the movie, we see less and less involvement of men. They are either just catalysts to bring out the character flaws or secondary help to carry out a plan.
The trio is complete within itself to look out for each other and themselves. The sync between the three, especially Carole and Alex during the climax, is certainly commendable to see. In a profession like theirs where trust comes first, it’s great to see the women trust and support each other and not claw at their backs. The trio are each other’s wingwomen in the truest sense of the term.
Wingwomen makes an attempt to best the buddy-cop genre, and almost touches the mark. But one can’t help but feel it is a replica of the previous male-centric movies in its genre. It was a welcome change to see women taking the centre stage in action-heavy movies about heists and assassins, but it doesn’t quite rise to the upper-echelons of others in this genre.
With just under two hours of runtime, one can consider Wingwomen as a passing entertainment because after a point, the story does get predictable. To the ones who are well-versed with the narratives of this genre, they might not find it engaging enough. The small attempts at humour are not lost on the viewers but they remain just that – attempts. Those scenes are only filler to the main story in progress to show the characters move from Point A to B. Of course, some meaning ought to be lost in translation for the French have a distinct sense of humour. If you are looking for something not too heavy to sink your teeth into but want to be involved to some level, then Wingwomen might make a decent choice.
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Verdict - 6/10
6/10