The Woman King turns a documented slave-trading kingdom into anti-slavery heroes, an inversion its makers call fiction and its sharpest critics call distortion 1
The critical side argues the film distorts Dahomey history by inverting the kingdom's role in the slave trade 1. The defending side argues the film is historical fiction, not a documentary, and centers African women warriors 1. WhatSphere rates faithfulness 53 of 100 and advocacy 30 of 100, mixed 2. Whether historical fiction may invert documented slave-trade roles is a values and historiography dispute 1.
- 1factFilm frames Dahomey as anti-slavery heroes; historians note Dahomey participation in slave trade.Historical scholarship vs film narrative consensus
- 2Content balanceAdvocacy 30 mixed; faithfulness 53.WhatSphere score_version 1
WhatSphere presents the sourced record; it does not cast the judgement. Every statement above is drawn from a stored, sourced row — shown beside it — and nothing is asserted beyond what those receipts support.
Synopsis
The story of the Agojie, the all-female unit of warriors who protected the African Kingdom of Dahomey in the 1800s with skills and a fierceness unlike anything the world has ever seen.
Age: 41 — leans younger
Quadrant Scores
Audience Representation
Where to Watch (US)
Amazon Prime Video
Hulu
fuboTV
YouTube TV
Amazon Prime Video with Ads
FXNow
Amazon Video
Apple TV Store
Google Play Movies
YouTube
Fandango At Home
PlexAmazon VideoApple TV StoreGoogle Play MoviesYouTubeFandango At HomeSource Material
| Title | Author | Type | Year | Purchase link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kingdom of Dahomey and the Agojie (historical) | — | historical | — | |
| Kingdom of Dahomey and the Agojie Warriors (1820s) | Historical record | historical | 1823 |
What did the audience think? Rate The Woman King — every voice counts equally, no account needed. Clean reviews appear instantly.
What Changed from the Source
The production decisions behind this adaptation, as recorded — original versus on screen.
Source faithfulness: 53/100
Put its audience profile side by side with any other title.
Advocacy Over Time in Action
The average advocacy score of Action titles by release year, with this title marked. Higher is more advocacy-driven.
| Year | Average advocacy | Titles |
|---|---|---|
| 1964 | 0 | 2 |
| 1965 | 4 | 3 |
| 1966 | 0 | 4 |
| 1968 | 2 | 2 |
| 1970 | 0 | 2 |
| 1971 | 0 | 4 |
| 1972 | 0 | 2 |
| 1973 | 1 | 9 |
| 1975 | 0 | 3 |
| 1977 | 2 | 2 |
| 1979 | 0 | 3 |
| 1980 | 3 | 5 |
| 1981 | 0 | 3 |
| 1982 | 0 | 5 |
| 1983 | 0 | 7 |
| 1984 | 2 | 11 |
| 1985 | 0 | 7 |
| 1986 | 2 | 10 |
| 1987 | 1 | 14 |
| 1988 | 0 | 4 |
| 1989 | 0 | 10 |
| 1990 | 0 | 5 |
| 1991 | 0 | 9 |
| 1992 | 1 | 8 |
| 1993 | 0 | 11 |
| 1994 | 2 | 14 |
| 1995 | 1 | 11 |
| 1996 | 0 | 9 |
| 1997 | 2 | 13 |
| 1998 | 0 | 10 |
| 1999 | 1 | 13 |
| 2000 | 1 | 11 |
| 2001 | 1 | 20 |
| 2002 | 1 | 17 |
| 2003 | 2 | 14 |
| 2004 | 2 | 19 |
| 2005 | 3 | 18 |
| 2006 | 1 | 23 |
| 2007 | 1 | 18 |
| 2008 | 2 | 22 |
| 2009 | 2 | 9 |
| 2010 | 3 | 8 |
| 2011 | 3 | 12 |
| 2012 | 5 | 10 |
| 2013 | 4 | 16 |
| 2014 | 6 | 9 |
| 2015 | 7 | 16 |
| 2016 | 15 | 9 |
| 2017 | 9 | 17 |
| 2018 | 9 | 20 |
| 2019 | 11 | 18 |
| 2020 | 10 | 13 |
| 2021 | 10 | 25 |
| 2022 | 15 | 32 |
| 2023 | 12 | 25 |
| 2024 | 8 | 31 |
| 2025 | 4 | 35 |
| 2026 | 8 | 16 |
| This title (2022) | 30 | 1 |
● This title (2022): advocacy 30 · explore Action →
Cast & Crew
Gina Prince-Bythewood (director) · Karim Huu Do (director)
Made for the Same Audience
Titles with the closest audience-sphere profile — not just the same genre.
Same Audience, Lower Advocacy
Made for a similar audience but scored lower on advocacy — the closest less-message-driven picks, ranked by audience-sphere proximity.
Featured in Our Analysis
Related Titles
