• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Philadelphia Film Society

See something you'll never forget

  • Now Showing
  • Programs
    • Film Series
    • Philly Film Showcase
    • Movies on the Block
    • Education
    • PFS On Us
  • Support
    • Membership
    • Individual Giving
    • Corporate Giving
    • Fundraising Events
    • Volunteer
  • Film Festival
    • PFF28
    • PFF SpringFest
    • Submissions
    • Sponsorship
    • Field Trips
    • Past Film Festivals
  • Venues
    • Roxy Theater
    • Philadelphia Film Center
  • About
    • Blog
    • Who We Are
    • Press Room
    • Staff
    • Board of Directors
    • Donation Request
    • Careers
    • Contact Us
  • Join
  • Donate

CLEMENCY

CHINONYE CHUKWU | USA | English | 2019 | 113 MIN

Alfre Woodard delivers a powerhouse performance as a conflicted death row warden in this searing drama, which won the U.S. Grand Jury Prize at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

Presiding over a maximum-security prison, warden Bernadine Williams (Alfre Woodard) is eerily good at what she does. The warden takes pride in carrying out her job with cool, impersonal efficiency despite the strain that overseeing death row inmates’ final moments puts on her marriage and her psyche. But when a botched execution reveals the faults in Bernadine’s seemingly perfect procedure, she’s forced to view her profession in a harsh new light. Bernadine becomes fixated on the impending execution of Anthony (Aldis Hodge), whose seemingly wrongful conviction has become a cause celebre for anti-death penalty activists and whose impassioned lawyer (Richard Schiff) continues to appeal to Bernadine’s sense of conscience. Chinonye Chukwu’s impeccably crafted second feature took home top honors at Sundance and is sure to bring further awards attention for Woodard, whose precise, subtly devastating performance cements her place as one of the finest actors working today. Anchored by her powerful turn, Clemency offers an acutely drawn portrait of a woman whose moral crisis echoes larger questions about America’s policies on execution and the effects of capital punishment on all those involved.

CAST: ALFRE WOODARD, ALDIS HODGE, RICHARD SCHIFF, WENDELL PIERCE

In Competition: Pinkenson Award


All sales are final. Admission is not guaranteed after scheduled start time.

CLICK HERE to return to the complete 28th Philadelphia Film Festival schedule.

Showtimes

Click date & time to buy tickets

Join our mailing list
Copyright ©2019 Philadelphia Film Society
Administrative Offices 1412 Chestnut St Philadelphia, PA 19102 267-239-2941
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Accessibility
  • Now Showing
  • Twitter.com/PhillyFilmSoc
  • Instagram.com/phillyfilmsociety/
  • Facebook.com/PhilaFilmSociety