When this year's highly-anticipated Oscar nominations were revealed late last month, fans were excited to see some of the industry's leading stars go head-to-head to be recognized as this year's best, though there were a handful of gems that didn't manage to make the cut.
The Woman King, starring 57-year-old Viola Davis, was amongst those that were snubbed by the Academy this year - much to the dismay of fans who have been raving about the action-packed drama online.
The historical piece, which also stars the likes of John Boyega, Lashana Lynch, and Hero Fiennes Tiffin, tells the story of West African warrior women in the early 19th century and has been hailed as one of the best movies of the year, earning itself a respectable 94% on Rotten Tomatoes as well as sparkling reviews by critics.
Wendy Ide of the Guardian referred to it as "a big, flexing, show-off spectacle of a movie," also adding that it's the "kind of historical epic that just doesn’t get made anymore."
You would think a movie with such glowing reviews would be leading the rankings at the Oscars, but unfortunately, the coveted award show seemed to forget all about it.
Gina Prince-Bythewood, the director of The Woman King, had a few words about the alleged snub, telling The Hollywood Reporter that she was "disappointed" by the result.
"This awards season was an eye-opener," Prince-Bythewood said in a piece exploring her reaction to the nominations, which left no women nominated for Best Director and Woman King star Viola Davis shut out of the Best Actress conversation.
"I've gotten so many texts and emails from people in the industry outraged by the Oscar nominations. Of course I'm disappointed. Who wouldn't be?," admitted the director, whose past films include Love and Basketball (2000) and The Old Guard (2020). "Especially because there was so much love for our film."
She also had a message for haters that would push the narrative that the film "just wasn't good enough."
"For any hater out there hoping to gaslight and say maybe we just weren’t good enough, you can’t argue the facts of our A+ Cinemascore — which only two other films achieved last year — or the 94 percent fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes, or the number of top 10 lists including AFI and National Board of Review.
"We’re going to pass $100 million at the global box office, which is groundbreaking and historic. Sales on VOD and DVD are great. So, our film made money and clearly had a cultural impact, which is what we all hoped for."
Not only are those aforementioned accolades a massive boost for the movie, but we also saw The Woman King round up the awards at last week's Girls On Film Awards.
As per Deadline, The Woman King picked up Best Ensemble sponsored by Netflix, and Best Female Friendship On Screen. Woman King star Viola Davis was also awarded the Feminist Superhero award. Sheila Atim, who portrays the role of Amenza, was there in person to accept the awards on behalf of the rest of the cast.
And just to add that one final cherry on the cake, the action-drama is now the most popular film on Netflix.
That's right, ever since it joined Netflix on February 16, it seems to have attracted a wide range of fans who have been raving about it on Twitter ever since.
"I’m like disgusted by how good of a movie the woman king is like literally no movie should be that amazing," wrote one user while another added: "The Woman King should be an Oscar-nominated movie."
"I’m watching the woman king and do you ever just... women," added another user.
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As per HuffPost, following behind The Woman King is 2013 buddy cop comedy 2 Guns, which stars Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg. Other currently trending Netflix movies also include the likes of You People, Your Place or Mine, as well as Trolls, Sing 2, and Minions: The Rise of Gru.
