Listen to a Piece of Hans Zimmer’s Score for Steven McQueen’s Widows

Steven McQueen’s Widows is one of this fall’s must-see films. One of the most thrilling heist movies in recent memory, Widows boasts an exceptional cast, a killer script from Sharp Objects and Gone Girl writer Gillian Flynn and McQueen, and, not for nothing, a subtle, potent score from the legendary Hans Zimmer. As wrote this past September, when you see McQueen’s brilliant crime drama, you’ll notice a persistent humming throughout. As the stakes rise for the three women at the center of the story (the widows of three dead criminals who now must pull off a monumentally dangerous heist to pay off their debts and forge a path of their own), Zimmer’s score eschews bombast for intimacy, the perfect sonic counterpoint to McQueen’s taut, delicious drama. Now you can listen to a cue from that score, thanks to Milan Records releasing it on SoundCloud.

“I wanted Widows to sound intimate,” Zimmer told us when we interviewed him the day after Widow’s rapturous bow at the Toronto International Film Festival. “I recorded the music in a small studio in London, where instead of creating a huge sound, we made something closer, more closed off. I wanted the music to feel close and personal because the story is that way.”

The trust between Zimmer and McQueen was built during their collaboration on McQueen’s Oscar-winning 12 Years a Slave. Widows has delicious twists and turns, witty repartee, thrilling action sequences, yet it moves and sounds like a very personal film, thanks in large part to McQueen’s trust in his brilliant composer.

Zimmer wasn’t the only musical genius to join McQueen’s project; Sade contributed a new song, “The Big Unknown,” which will play over the end credits. As if you needed more reason to see this film.

Have a listen to the cue below:

Widows will hit theaters on November 16.

Featured image: Viola Davis and Cynthia Erivo star in Twentieth Century Fox’s WIDOWS. Photo Credit: Merrick Morton. 20th Century Fox.