Lifetime Films' female vigilante thriller "Lila & Eve" centers on grieving moms who are out for revenge, with remarkable performance by Viola Davis and Jennifer Lopez.
Viola Davis, who plays the grieving mother of a teenage son killed in a drive-by shooting by a drug gang, is without a doubt a formidable presence in "Lila & Eve."
Single Atlanta mom Lila (Davis) decides to take the law into her own hands after being disappointed with how the justice system handles the fatal drive-by shooting of her eldest son. Lila is encouraged by street-smart Eve (Lopez), whom she meets in a grieving mother support group.
Lila continues to socially accept the things she can't change and this takes her down an increasingly violent path. The ever-rooted Davis on the other hand draws the audience in even as the film's plot grows noticeably less convincing, Los Angeles Times noted.
That said, the movie has much more in mind than just catering violent thrills.
Lila's frustration is not only fueled owing to the fact that her 18-year-old son, Stephon (Aml Ameen), has been shot down in the street, but also by the fact that the cops do not care.
Coming at a time when #BlackLivesMatter has become a national cry that bonds people together, "Lila" is specifically pointed as it shows a situation in which the police have formed a task force to probe the killing of a white cheerleader but where the lead detective (played by Shea Whigham) on the case of Lila's son has trouble recalling the young man's name.
In terms of scenes, the movie is at its most emotionally wrenching scene which is filmed in a support group for mothers who have lost children to gang violence. It's there that Lila meets Eve who urges her new friend to avenge her son, SeattleTimes noted.
The movie shades into the surreal as Lila and Eve unleash their wrath on several gangsters, but through it all Davis' portrayal of a mother's pain, moving from hopelessness to revenge and regret gives the film its impressive power.
Also starring are Shea Whigham Julius Tennon, Lisa Maffia, Chris Chalk, Andre Royo, Yolonda Ross. The film is produced by Sara Risher and Darrin Reed and directed by Charles Stone III.
