All three of these short films are good, but the first is outstanding, largely because Demi Moore, whose performances I've otherwise never particularly liked, is so excellent. The point that she and Savoca convey - powerfully - is the sheer isolation, 50 years ago, of women who faced unwanted pregnancies. Moore spends most of the film, it seems, sitting alone in an empty house. Otherwise, she's enduring the company of her late husband's family, who see her only as their boy's widow, not as a human being. It's a frightening story that exerts a very strong empathetic pull.
The dialog is spare; Savoca relies on Moore's face and body language to convey her terror, aloneness and feeling that things are closing in on her. There's very little "emoting" here, which makes Moore's character all the more forceful. The result is an exemplary piece of film acting.
Of course, how much do we need in the way of tears and histrionics when we can see Moore attempting the old knitting needle cure, and later dealing with the aftereffects of a ghastly kitchen-table operation? This country's abortion laws created - and maintain effectively, in many places - a sort of hell for pregnant women. Thanks to this film, we can really understand a bit of what it was - and is - like.
