What to read, watch, and listen to if you lovedWidows
Steve McQueen · Film · 2018
If you loved Widows, start with Good Girls (Jenna Bans, 2018) — a series on the same thread. Below: 4 books, 4 series and 2 podcasts, each matched to Widows across media.
What hooked you in Widows was the way ordinary people are forced to dismantle systemic corruption through desperate, high-stakes acts of survival.
Books on the same thread
Pieces of Her
Karin Slaughter · Book
Explores: hidden past, maternal secrets, identity crisis.
Like the women in Widows, the protagonist here must confront a hidden, dangerous past to secure her future, echoing the same tension between domestic life and sudden, violent necessity.
The Widow
John Grisham · Book
Explores: wrongfully accused, small-town corruption, amateur sleuthing.
If the corruption and legal entanglements of Widows kept you watching, this rural noir captures that same desperate search for truth when the system turns against an innocent person.
The Widow: A Novel
John Grisham · Book · 2025
Shares a thread with Widows: Redemption.
This legal thriller mirrors the high-stakes atmosphere of Widows, focusing on an individual caught in a web of betrayal and corruption while fighting to clear their name against odds.
Crook Manifesto
Colson Whitehead · Book
Explores: systemic corruption, 1970s urban decay, criminal underworld.
Set against a backdrop of urban decay, this story captures the same gritty, systemic corruption found in Widows, as characters navigate a criminal underworld to reclaim their own agency.
Series on the same thread
Small Axe
Steve McQueen · Series · 2020
Explores: Racial Identity, Community, Immigration.
Directed by the creator of Widows, this series shares the same commitment to exploring social inequality and the resilience of communities pushed to the margins of historical power structures.
Good Girls
Jenna Bans · Series · 2018
Shares a thread with Widows: Female Empowerment.
Much like the protagonists of Widows, these women are driven by financial desperation to abandon their ordinary lives and take control, proving that anyone can be pushed toward illicit action.
Locked Up
Álex Pina · Series · 2015
Shares 2 threads with Widows: Corruption, Female Empowerment.
The feeling of being trapped by forces outside your control in Widows is mirrored here, as a woman must navigate a ruthless prison environment to survive a systemic injustice.
Godless
Scott Frank · Series · 2017
Explores: Female solidarity, Outlaw redemption, Revenge.
If the female solidarity in Widows captivated you, this revisionist western offers a similar exploration of women banding together to defend their own against violent, encroaching criminal forces.
Podcasts on the same thread
Unravelling Amy
Podcast
Explores: fraud, deception, identity theft.
The intricate deception and financial schemes that defined the plot of Widows are explored here through the lens of a real-life fraudster who manipulates systems to her own advantage.
Criminal
Vox Media Podcast Network · Podcast · 2026
Explores: moral ambiguity, social justice, human behavior.
This podcast digs into the same moral ambiguity found in Widows, examining the stories of those who have done wrong or were caught in the middle of complex legal realities.
Keep exploring
Common questions
Is Widows based on a true story about a Chicago heist?
Widows is not based on a true story. It is a fictional narrative directed by Steve McQueen about four women who join forces to pull off a heist to pay off a debt left behind by their spouses following an explosive armed robbery attempt in Chicago.
Why do the main characters in Widows join forces?
The widows in Widows join forces because they have nothing in common except for a debt left behind by their spouses' criminal activities. They decide to work together to pull off a heist in order to forge a future on their own terms after their husbands die.
What happens to the husbands in Widows?
In Widows, the husbands are four thieves who die during an explosive armed robbery attempt in Chicago. Their deaths occur during a police shootout, which leaves their widows responsible for the criminal debts the men accumulated prior to the failed heist.
Is Widows a movie about a heist?
Yes, Widows is a movie about a heist. After their husbands are killed in a police shootout during an armed robbery, the widows are left with a significant debt and decide to execute their own heist to secure their financial futures.