The Woman King is a 2022 American historical action-adventure film about the Agojie, the all-female warrior unit that protected the West African kingdom of Dahomey during the 17th to 19th centuries. Set in the 1820s, the film stars Viola Davis as a general who trains the next generation of warriors to fight their enemies. It is directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood and written by Dana Stevens, based on a story she wrote with Maria Bello. The film also stars Thuso Mbedu, Lashana Lynch, Sheila Atim, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, and John Boyega.
Theatrical release poster
Producer Maria Bello in 2016
Director Gina Prince-Bythewood in 2018
Film score composer Terence Blanchard in 2014
The Dahomey Amazons were a Fon all-female military regiment of the Kingdom of Dahomey that existed from the 17th century until the late 19th century. They were the only female army in modern history. They were named Amazons by Western Europeans who encountered them, due to the story of the female warriors of Amazons in Greek mythology.
The Dahomey Mino around 1890
Seh-Dong-Hong-Beh, a leader of the Amazons, drawing by Frederick Edwyn Forbes, 1851
Dahomey Amazons with the king at their head, going to war – 1793
A group portrait of the "Amazons from Dahomey" during their stay in Paris, 1891