User reviews

Almost too traumatic to watch at times, particularly the birth scene at the beginning with the impending tragedy.

After this, you find yourself watching a kind of ticking time bomb. I wasn't sure what was going to happen, was it going to end in violence, more tragedy, the tension almost seeped through the screen.

I was not aware of. Vanessa Kirby before this movie, what an outstanding performance she delivered, she left absolutely nothing in the rehearsal room and gave a performance, as powerful as I can remember. She was very well supported by the cast around her.

Grief must never be swept under the carpet, this movie, as hard as it is to watch at times, delivers a very important message.

Pieces of a Woman (2020) follows a woman who struggles to deal with the aftermath of a traumatic home birth. This film was a really beautiful film with a lot of heart and emotional. Such a brutally realistic portrayal of grief and I'm very happy i watched it.

I loved the cinematography for this film! The colour palettes were subtle yet very visually pleasing and all the shots were framed really well. The camera panning was good and I liked how it tracked the characters, especially in this birth scene. The extreme close-ups used helped to convey the characters' emotions to the max and were very effective!

The score was super melancholic throughout the whole film and immediately set the tone well. It was somewhat basic at points but I still found that it added a lot to the film and didn't really need to be 'unique' per say.

All the performances were strong, with some well written and intense dialogue. The characters felt so real. Vanessa Kirby was phenomenal as the lead and her acting during the birth scene was unreal! I thought Ellen Burstyn was great in her role too, as she always is! My only criticism is that I'd have liked to have seen more of Benny Safdie's character! Also, I wanted to mention that the casting of the sister was accurate and a great choice!

The film had strong themes of grief, and I found it to be brutally realistic in addressing such themes. I'm sure this is a movie many people, unfortunately, can relate to. Also, I loved the apple metaphor and it was beautifully addressed during the court scene, which was probably my favourite scene of the movie!

Lastly, the pacing was slow and steady, but managed to keep me engaged and interest through the whole duration! I was completely drawn in to these people's lives, and it left me wanting more!

I almost never watch movies like these -- mega-drama releases during Oscar season. But in my first year reviewing on Letterboxd, movies like this appear so consistently in the "Popular with Friends" feed I find myself drawn to them.

And after forcing my self to watch PIeces of a Woman knowing I'd struggle, I think I'm going with my gut next time around.

I don't really have much to add to what's been said before. The birth scene is heart wrenching. The acting is phenomenal. Shia Lebouf's performance was so excellent I kept wanting to slap myself in the face reminding myself that he's a complete asshole.

But the bulk of the movie after the first act is just painful to sit through. Not because of the depressing subject matter. Nothing really gels.

Overall it felt like a jigsaw puzzle that was half completed.

Opens on one of the most powerful long takes in recent memory, but not even the masterful performances by Kirby and Burstyn could save the dry 2nd and 3rd acts. Resolution felt incomplete. Kirby elevates an otherwise tough sit.

I lost my child in 2007 just before she was born and I watched this wondering would it be portrayed sympathetically. It was. The birth scene is part of the story but it is the fall out from the loss. The grief is soul destroying and it changes lives. Me and my partner are not the same people we were before our daughter was born. Both leads play this beautifully, the self destruction is honest. I know people struggle with the ending but sometimes life evolves and becomes 'normal' again. We've had 2 Rainbow babies since our loss. The apple theme is true and accurately portrayed.

It's a well acted tragic story that starts off excellently, but falls apart bit by bit the longer it goes until it ends on a whimper, as if the story got tired. Vanessa Kirby is equal parts excellent, and yet underacted in a sort of apathetic manner, where it began to hurt the story itself because her behavior was not shown to have anything underlying it, but her surface level was her entire level. Shia was excellent, as was the Mother. The film is very much in the style of Hungarian films, as the director is, and I say this in the way that this film could and would have been shot as a Hungarian film and played out exactly the same, if it had not been North American. In fact, it feels like an American adaptation of an existing Hungarian film, but this is it. The tone of the film jerks around somewhat, going with hard, every day realism, with odd smatterings of symbolism that just don't mesh well and come up like worn down speed humps on your drive, so instead of you getting seamless symbolism, they are stark and you are slapped aware of them when they show up. The dialogue is very good and realistic, except for a few instances where they get speechy and you start to fall out of the immersion because of it. The cinematography is very great, and the music works well. I think with some tweaks this could have been a great, even excellent movie, but what we got is a hampered result.

This is a film that will be on my mind for a while. It's hard to enjoy a movie that's incredibly depressing, but Pieces of a Woman is one that I got behind. All I feel like doing is raving about how good this movie truly is, but I need to stress that I probably won't recommend it to most average viewers. Having just premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, Pieces of a Woman took me on a journey that I wasn't prepared for in the slightest. Here are my overall thoughts on this very challenging film.

The premise of this film alone kind of ruins the experience to dive into it in detail, so I'll simply say that this film is about Martha (Vanessa Kirby), a woman who has to cope with a devastating loss. This loss drives a huge steak in the love between her and Sean (Shia LaBeouf), so much so that their relationship may not work out. Pieces of a Woman begins with an absolutely gut-wrenching 30 minutes that sets the rest of the film in motion. The opening of the film made me smile and it felt sweet, but the quick descent into heartbreak just left my jaw on the floor. In retrospect, this movie isn't for anyone who is looking to genuinely enjoy a film, but rather an experience that utilizes filmmaking and performances in the best ways possible.

I've been a Shia LaBeouf fan for as long as I can remember, so his fantastic and raw performance here didn't surprise me in the least. He's been great in everything he's done over the last few years and I can't wait to see more indie turns from him. Now, Vanessa Kirby on the other hand... I've seen her in big films like Mission: Impossible - Fallout and Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw, but I've never seen her sink her teeth into a role like this. Maybe there's a smaller film that I need to seek out that she's done in the past, but this may be the best performance she'll ever give. From her first moments on-screen to where she ends up by the end, her range here was outstanding. I felt the emotion that she was conveying and I broke down in a certain courtroom scene.

Now, where I feel the one imperfect aspect of this film lies, is in the fact that the first 30 minutes are so incredibly moving, that the rest of the movie does seem to move at a much, much slower pace. Once the big moment occurs, Pieces of a Woman almost teeters on being a little too melodramatic and slow. With that said, the camerawork by Benjamin Loeb is a character in itself. Incredibly long takes bring you on a journey themselves and it took the overall story to another level for me. Having done the cinematography for the film Mandy, I guess that shouldn't have surprised me so much. It's very clear that Loeb has a keen eye on what will work for a specific film and what won't. I'm eagerly awaiting his next project.

In the end, Pieces of a Woman is probably the most challenging movie I've watched all year. Not only due to how depressing the story itself is, but how slowly the film moves along. It asks you to be patient and really dive into the emotional core, which I ended up finding incredibly powerful overall, even though the subject matter was almost too much to take in at times. The graphic nature of how certain things are displayed almost had me in tears alone. This is a film that doesn't hold back. It tells you the honest truth about situations like this and I found that very powerful. Not many viewers will be able to sit through this movie and want to call it great, but that's exactly what I believe it to be. A great, great piece of drama, even if it's brutally hard to watch.

There are some nice moments late into the running time of "Pieces of a Woman," but you may not think the payoff of those scenes is worth what you had to sit through to get to them.

As anyone who knows about this movie already also knows, the opening is a lengthy and grueling one-shot scene of a homebirth gone wrong. Actually, that's not how the movie opens. There are a few brief scenes establishing the principal characters, namely Martha (Vanessa Kirby), her husband Sean (Shia LaBeouf), and Martha's domineering mom Elizabeth (Ellen Burstyn). These scenes quickly convey the dysfunctional family dynamic between this trio, and mostly warns the audience that all of these people are going to be pretty miserable to be around. The film then delivers on that promise. After the birthing scene, which wasn't as unbearable as I thought it would be aside from the vomit anxiety induced by watching Vanessa Kirby burp and almost throw up for 20 minutes, this movie becomes nothing but a mashup of marital misery, and reinforces my belief that you can have empathy for damaged people and understand how they became the way they are, but still not want to be around them.

Martha finds some solace and healing very late in the movie, providing Kirby with a chance to convey an emotion beyond hollowed-out bitterness. Burstyn is masterful and has a monologue that has Oscar clip written all over it. LaBeouf is hopeless, as he always is. He's a truly disgusting actor and he only plays disgusting characters and it's a relief when he abandons his wife and leaves the film. I only wish he'd done it sooner.

Kirby is being lauded for her performance, but she's limited by the material. We don't know anything about Martha before her trauma and anything we learn about her after is filtered through that lens. She's a character defined by her tragedy, and the movie makes it hard to care about her beyond the abstract care one would feel for any random person in similar circumstances.

Grade: B

Very powerful, but still subtle, drama. The opening birth scene is truly extraordinary, and Vanessa Kirby's performance in that scene - and throughout the film - is a masterclass. It's a brilliant portrait of a woman who for the majority of the film has things happening to her, people doing things they think she needs, agency well-meaningless removed. Her core flinty resolve is hinted at throughout, and when it's finally allowed out it's beautifully expressed in a final few minutes that could feel like lazy grandstanding but is instead delivered with all the restraint needed. An excellent supporting cast too, especially Shia LaBoeuf as her partner. Moving, sensitive and well-crafted.

The screenplay and the resulting formal structure of the movie left me a bit puzzled. Did they try to parallel the experience of this young woman, surpassing a deep life crisis after a miscarriage, on the formal level and the structure of the movie? The film never recovers from its strong first 30 min, after this you have the feeling it breaks into pieces, like the life of this young woman itself. Sequences seem fractured and shattered, not really motivated or combined in a convincing way. Dialogue and acting often seems loosely improvised and unconnected. La Beouf's part for example, the most unconvincingly motivated character for me, suddenly loosing any connection, vanishing out of sight. But that's exactly the way the grieving mother must have felt it herself! Maybe they did that intentionally to give us the feeling of loss, pain, anger and emotional estrangement this woman is going through. Strong supporting acts by Ellen Burstyn and Molly Parker. But the movie's core and center is Vanessa Kirby here, giving a breathtaking performance, she carries this film almost alone. In the end it doesn't leave you frustrated, it seems there's enough hope left for a new beginning in life.

People are saying that this movie is fantastic for the first half and then kinda looses steam. I kinda of agree but I think that it is much more up and down than that. The opening is really good but is a little manic at time. This bothered me a little bit but then I got the feeling that maybe it was on purpose to sort of drag us into the feelings of the characters at that moment.

I do agree that this film does start to sag after the opening but it does have more peaks especially the scenes between Vanessa Kirby and Ellen Burstyn. The scenes in the later parts of the movie between them characters were so good to watch. It was just such a showcase of great acting.

One small thing I found Shia's character to just be unlikable but that may be the fault of Shia I don't know. He was just so boring and flat and terrible.

The film does look good and I think some of the small production design choices were really well thought out and I enjoyed the other little techniques that the film makers used to make it a little bit more Interesting.

The score was just a tiny, tiny little bit off for me. It was so close for me but when I was enjoying it there would be a turn and I would be like oh no that wasn't right.

The issues above are all pretty minor as I have one major one and that is the dialogue. It was so soggy. It was just like sluggish. Some of it was better than other parts but the clunkers were really just bad. There was a lot of "hi how are you" "I am good" "oh good me too" "that's good" "yeah that is good".

I think you could watch it for the acting and especially the first half and parts in the latter half.

I've seen several comparisons of Mundruczó's style to that of Cassavettes, but when the credits arrived, Bergman came to my mind: largely discoursive, disfunctional family relationships, and naturalistic dialogue despite the presence of a structured screenplay.

The english language debut of the hungarian director is built around eight different days, each distant about a month from the other, as it depicts the way the life of the titular woman changes after a tragic miscarriage. Most of the scenes use very well made one-shot sequences (particularly successful is one that happens very early in the movie, perhaps one of the best single takes I've seen in years, but it dangerously overshadowed the rest of the film

As I see it, a film is well writtwn when all its structural elements check out, and this is the case here: every piece of dialogue is deeply connected to the main story yet the overall effect of naturalism is unaffected.

Pieces of a Woman is a character-driven story, and thus the performances of the titular actors much be noted: not only the subtly emotional Vanessa Kirby but Ellen Burstyn's role as the protagonist'a mother, as well as Shia Labeouf's painful take on the partner's role.

Scorsese was totally right: this movie is surprising, yet in an unexpected, subtle way. Lookong forward for more Mundruczó.

This movie about a woman (and her family) dealing with miscarriage, starts with a strong focus, almost educational, on the experience of childbirth and it's longer term physical effects. Making you emphasize with the less pretty side of childbirth, unlike we usually see on film.

But as the movie progresses it goes so far beyond that. We mainly get to explore Martha the protagonist, her partner and her mother. I'm each of them we find a complicated wounded human being. We go with them through depression, trauma, grief, aspirations and disappointment, love and heartbreak.

The movie has this fragility and tenderness about it, it's not hardcore(requiem for a dream comes to mind as the opposite), which just make it beautiful and welcoming.

Vanessa Kirby is amazing, portraying an impressive woman of character through a numb traumatized performance that mostly depicts her detached from everything around her. Shia LaBeouf surprised me with an intense performance that really gives flesh and depth to a broken complicated man far beyond the center plot. Ellen Burstyn reminds she's still in the game, depicting a mother who loves in a flawed way, she's intense, and her emotions feel so deeply rooted in who her character is. Also the biggest surprise for me is Molly Parker, who I never thought much of, but was absolutely remarkable. Even though her part was very short, yet quintessential, she will stay for me an unforgettable part of the movie. The kindness and the vulnerability of her character are so compelling and radiant on her face every second she's on.

I know a fault that some people will find, and I can partially agree, is that the numbness of our lead can become a bit too real and the movie can become a bit slow or flat in emotion/atmosphere/story at times. But I think that's just part of the fact this is art, not a blockbuster. It's serves a purpose and makes it unique.

A fault I do want to point out as a disappointment is the fact once the character has come to terms with her loss, the movie unfolds very quickly and rushes towards ending without actually trying to study and understand the very climax of her process, or where she's headed now. But really this movie is packed with good and I'm just complaining we didn't get more.

And of course I can't skip mentioning it made me cry. Without giving saying too much, the ones who watched it will know-"apple". Devastated me. A moment that touched me very deeply. And so this movie will stay with me, give it a chance to stay with you too.

Overall, this movie is pretty decent. I have to say that I expected a bit more but in the end I wasn't really disappointed. Vanessa Kirby and Shia LaBeouf were both great but there were moments in both of their performances that were just a little bit off. The highlight of the film has got to be its opening scene which is about 27 minutes long. This scene was absolutely incredible and highly salute them for their work. After that the movie goes up and down over and over again. It's meant to be sad and heartbreaking but I just didn't REALLY feel that when I was watching.

That home birth scene was intense especially since I almost had a home birth 11 months ago (thank God I decided to go with a hospital). I literally had to stop the movie and breathe because for the last few seconds I was inadvertently holding my breath. Astounding performances, good film, but not a film I can watch a second time.

3 out of 5 stars.

Pieces of a Woman is a fair drama film about a married couple Martha (Vanessa Kirby) and Sean (Shia Labeouf). As Martha is about to give birth at home. Calls for a midwife to help out. But things go horrible when the baby does not make it. Leaving the couple going through loss, grief, and struggling to move on.

It was a decent story. Which can be relatable to cases with couples dealing with loss. It is a powerful drama film. Starts out great for the first hour or so. The direction is raw and does not hold back. The birthing scene is tough and filled with emotions. Can be a tearjerker.

The performances is great with the cast. Vanessa Kirby did a phenomenal job with her role. And rest of the cast did a great job. Dealing with the struggle of loss.

I did find the music score by Howard Shore to be kind of disappointing. Making the film feel kind of slow and tedious. Which after the first hour. It does feel slow moving. They could have edited the long running time better.

It is a striking drama with great performances. But does feel a little dragged out. And long.

"Pieces of a Woman" seems to be exactly what many others are saying about it: a partly well-acted movie that would've made for a decent 30-minutes short film followed by more than an hour and a half that's not as compelling. I don't have much to add to that because this is generally superficial filmmaking wallowing in grief that inevitably falters into melodramatics, including yelling and speechifying--even a speech in a courtroom that rather ruins what was otherwise a powerful moment involving a photograph of the mother with her newborn. Even the some-20-minutes long take, technically impressive though it is, of the birth scene is more showy than profound. After the title appears 30 minutes in, though, and beyond the credits appearing letter by letter (in pieces, in other words--get it) and sequences divided by gaps in time (more pieces), the picture is exceedingly uncomplicated in construction. It becomes mere dull melancholy. Long with ruminative shots, but nothing intelligent to think about.

But, sure, Vanessa Kirby plays quiet grieving with the best of them, especially when not required to suddenly emote excessively to demonstrate that grief. On the other hand, Shia LaBeouf goes the other typical direction in these movies, of booze, drugs and abusive outbursts and which is not helped at all by the star's real-life notoriety for the same. I suppose I prefer to see him in stuff not involving Transformers but this character is too far over-the-top in opposition to Kirby's relative restraint. Nothing particularly interesting is done with his job in bridge construction, either, beyond the obvious metaphor of "resonance" that their marriage clearly doesn't have. Although, I'm not even sure what Kirby's Martha does in her job except for perhaps that she received an office because, as evidenced by her entitled mother (Ellen Burstyn), she comes from money. Although I wouldn't be surprised if Burstyn, along with Kirby, receives awards attention, her character is nearly as "boorish" as LaBeouf's and is given dementia in the script because, I don't know, the filmmakers seemed to have forgotten to end the movie in a timely manner. "Pieces of a Woman" is a long slog with no payoff.

I enjoyed the story. It is well told and well acted. It would have received a higher score from me, but the editing kept it from being a great film. There was a lot of B-roll, unnecessary scenes, and scenes that went on too long. At over two hours, there wasn't enough content to maintain an interesting pace. A re-edit to put it at 100 minutes would make for a better work of art.

That said, I recommend it.