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My mom (a recent widow) and I (a single girl) both love The Lady's Companion, to the point we didn't want Season 1 to end and are devastated we have to wait for Season 2.... There better be a Season 2. We both greatly appreciated how it tackled big emotions (i.e. Death of spouses, miscarriage, societal pressures, and the search for a husband) without feeling too heavy nor depressing. Rather, it exemplified resilience and the ability for us, particularly women, to find strength in subpar circumstances. I think we were able to relate to the characters, and it provided comedic relief to our stressful lives.

I am so glad this story of the Osage was told, 10/10 for shining a light on it. Lily Gladstone's performance was 1000/10. However, the movie was too long and too focused on Ernest and Hale. It's my understanding that the novel is based more upon their relationship, but for this film, the relationships that deserved focus, development, and emotional attachment with the audience were those between Mollie and her family and the Osage. Lily is such an amazing actress that she was able to get the audience to feel the pain, suffering, and courage of Mollie, despite having a screenplay that gave little time and attention to developing a connection between Mollie's family/community and the audience.

Media (news, Hollywood, social media) focuses too much on perpetrators and their victims as the victim of the perpetrator; there is little to no focus or development of the victim as an individual with relationships, purposes, struggles. This movie was not much different from that trend.

I'm also afraid the audience will go away thinking the system that paved the way for these abuses is a thing of the past. It is not. The allotment system is alive and well. There is some variation from region to region, tribe to tribe, but generally most property within reservation boundaries is owned by the US gov in trust for the allottees and to a lesser extent owned by the tribes and in fee by people. Individuals only own a beneficiary interest in trust lands. If an allottee wants to own the property in fee (i.e. Actually own the ground they're entitled to and not just a beneficiary interest) and thus have the ability to sell and use it as they wish, the BIA has to approve it, which includes a determination that the allottee is "competent." Today, in 2024, under Biden/Harris, the US government still works from a presumption that Native Americans are incompetent. This is beyond despicable. Also, like in the 20s, states have no jurisdiction/authority within reservations, and the feds don't pay much attention to policing even the things they do have authority to. There are many complex issues that could have used some more exploration in the film but at the least, it did increase some awareness to these issues and its success helped elevate Native talent.