Coming into its second week in theaters, the new Hunger Games movie keeps doing solid numbers. The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes is a not-so-surprising success, reinforcing the franchise's popularity and audience's taste for fancy-dressed dystopia. What's more surprising, perhaps, is the relatively positive critical consensus. Though few herald the Francis Lawrence flick as best-of-the-year material, it's also not counted amid 2023's many busted blockbusters. The cast has been especially praised, including Viola Davis, who is expanding her repertoire to include one mad-eyed, crazy-haired villain in red.
As Gamemaker Volumnia Gaul, she's the story's primary antagonist, an embodiment of its universe's power structures, bloodthirsty and ruthless. Seeing Davis triumph in the role makes one wonder how she'd do in more genre fare. Horror, for example…
Back in 2012, when Davis was nominated for Best Actress for The Help, she took part in one of The New York Times's editorials, where various awards contenders posed for photos and small videos. That year's theme was cinematic villainy, with the actress taking a spin on the whole Nurse Ratchet concept. Rather than New Hollywood Realism or Ryan Murphy's glammed-up Netflix camp, this vision of the character leaned on horror. And so, directed by Alex Prager, Viola Davis stared down the camera, her gaze a threat while ladybugs crawled over the nurse's uniform, her countenance and steely frame.
Since catching that little clip, I've dreamt of Davis as a proper horror star. But sadly, the ensuing decade never saw the thespian tap into that potential. Prestige and theatrical grandeur are her comfort zone, and she's delivered some incredible turns within those parameters. Hell, Davis even showed she could do thriller antics like nobody's business in the Oscar-worthy Widows and aced an action-heavy premise in The Woman King. It's not hard to imagine her doing the same in some celluloid nightmare. If her Dr. Gaul is any indication, Davis could kill as a monstrous figure come to haunt our collective imagination.
Do you agree, dear reader? Would Viola Davis do well in horror? And what other genres would you like to see the thespian try?