- Haley Bennett, Tom Sturridge, Natasha O'Keeffe
- August 23rd 2024
- Thomas Napper
Haley Bennett plays the trailblazing Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin Clicquot, who takes over her late husband’s wine business and makes it a success.
You may have heard about the Champagne brand Veuve Clicquot, but do you know about the revolutionary woman who made it so popular?
Set in the Champagne region of France in the early 1800s, this drama tells the story of Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin Clicquot (Haley Bennett), who became a widow at the age of 27 following the death of her husband Francois (Tom Sturridge).
At that time, women did not run businesses so her father-in-law Philippe (Ben Miles) urged her to sell their vineyards. But the determined Barbe-Nicole refused to give up their fields and took charge of the wine-making enterprise on her late husband’s behalf, turning it into one of the largest Champagne houses.
Widow Clicquot shines a spotlight on a remarkable, trailblazing woman who defiantly ran a business in a male-dominated industry and proved all her naysayers wrong.
The male wine producers around her believed women didn’t have a head for business but she showed them not to write her off so easily. They constantly tried to undermine and sabotage her operation in order to get her land but Madame Clicquot knew what she was doing – she looked after the vines with her husband and they came up with creations together.
While Widow Clicquot is an interesting drama, the story feels unsubstantial and incomplete. We spend the whole film watching her struggle to make money and command respect from the workers so we deserve to see the pay-off. We should see her success instead of just reading about it in the written epilogue. Perhaps it was a budget issue, but it felt like there was more story left to tell.
Bennett adopts an impressively consistent British accent to portray the resilient and determined – but still very vulnerable and human – Madame Clicquot. She has convincing chemistry with Sam Riley as her charming lover, wine salesman Louis Bohne.
In an era where films often outstay their welcome, it’s unusual for a feature to leaving you wanting more – but Widow Clicquot is a prime example of that.
In cinemas from Friday 30th August.
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