‘Widow Clicquot’ Review — Haley Bennett Floats in Champagne Saga

While wine-making, especially in France, has historically been a business dominated by men (surprise, surprise), one of the most recognized and luxurious brands of champagne in the world remains Veuve Clicquot. If you have a couple of French classes under your belt, you might know that “veuve” is the French word for “widow”, and knowing that, you might wonder, why is this champagne brand called Widow Clicquot? Well, Thomas Napper has the answer for you in the form of Widow Clicquot, a romantic biopic based on the life of the titular “Grand Dame of Champagne” herself. Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin was married at 20 to François, the son of a wine-making family. Though the marriage was arranged, it quickly blossomed into a love match. Widow Clicquot is full of scenes between Haley Bennett‘s Barbe-Nicole and Tom Sturridge‘s François flourishing romance amid the vines of Reims, France. But this romance is tragically cut short when, seven years later, François dies and Barbe-Nicole is the only one left protecting her and her husband’s legacy as the vultures begin to circle on the vineyard.

​ Thomas Napper’s Widow Clicquot, starring Haley Bennett, is a champagne biopic that is elevated by its lead performance. Read on for our review.