The Black Widow is not dead ... Drug Queen Carmen van Walraven is hiding in Canada and leads an anonymous life there. One evening a colleague is harassed and Carmen helps her. In self-defense, she kills the perpetrator, is arrested and extradited to the Netherlands. While her children are in shock that their mother is still alive, there are also some people who still have to settle something with Carmen. Everyone is again dragged into an emotional rollercoaster. Carmen will now have deal with her past to save her family.
Acting
Monic Hendrickx ages into Carmen like a weapon rusting beautifully.
Direction
Van Rooijen tightens the screws until family dinner feels like a hostage situation.
Cinematography
Canada's bleakness vs. Dutch claustrophobia — two prisons, one woman.
Director
Diederik Van Rooijen
Monic Hendrickx
Carmen van Walraven-de Rue
Niels Gomperts
Lucien van Walraven
Sigrid ten Napel
Natalie van Walraven
Stijn Taverne
Boris van Walraven
Olga Zuiderhoek
Fiep Homoet
Raymond Thiry
Nicolaas Luther
Loek Peters
Berry Reitens
Hajo Bruins
Jim Leeflang
Medina Schuurman
Sandrina Breusink-Ritchie
Peter Blok
Jack van Zon
Armando del Río
Gabriel
Maarten Heijmans
Lawyer Paul
Jacqueline Blom
Justine de Heer
Gustav Borreman
Dwayne Bresler
Tygo Gernandt
Evert
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Penoza was Netherlands' answer to Breaking Bad — a rare female-led crime epic that ran 5 seasons before this film finale.
The Canada scenes were actually shot in Belgium; Monic Hendrickx reportedly insisted on minimal makeup to show Carmen's erosion.
No ratings yet
Sign in to join the discussion — comments are spoiler-gated to your watch progress.
Discussion starters
NL
