Women Talking

I feel this was a missed opportunity, I was surprised to see that this was based on real events, not in America but rather in Bolivia (even though they all speak English, but that's a topic for another discussion), somehow I really doubt it went down the way it did.

They took advantage of the story and tried to approach it "12 Angry Men style" with relevant topics of gender discrimination and feminism, but while there's a good concept behind the idea and the topics themselves are highly important and relevant, I felt the execution didn't do them justice.

The set is a bit odd, even though its "based on true events" the language and the way the argumentation takes place doesn't really match the closed religious community set.

They could've used a different plot to make these statements, it feels very forced and the discussion almost feel separate of the rest of the movie storyline, it's just an odd experience.

Also even though the movie isn't too long it feel extended, the conclusion is a bit anti-climactic and a rather slow burner and it's hard to identify with most of the characters.

Interesting approach, relevant topics and discussion, questionable execution.

Far from being an Academy Award worthy contender.

There's two movies about sexual assault this year-this and the Harvey Weinstein based 'she said'. I found 'she Said' To be like watching 'spotlight' all over again. It didn't add anything new to the conversation. This does because of its nuances. It's easy to make a 'sexual assault bad' movie but this movie grapples within a religious faith based community where things aren't so black and white. I loved how all the characters represented all points of view-doing something about it, say nothing, etc. I love all the main cast-Claire foy, Jessie Buckley, Rooney Mara. Really great film done subtly on an important subject.

A group of women from a small religious community discuss various violent acts, beatings and rape.

It is a heavy going watch, a film that manages to intrigue, sicken and inform. Some of the content, some of what you'll hear will genuinely lower your opinion on human nature, the harrowing acts some people can commit.

The best element for me, the acting, if I had to pick out a standout, I'd argue Claire Foy did a supreme job, but the likes of Ben Wishaw and Frances McDormand were excellent also.

I feel like it plays out like a stage play, I can only imagine how powerful some of the content would play out in a small, intimate theatre, one or two bits maybe get a little lost in translation onto the big screen.

I've read some very impressive reviews about this film, some people have spoken candidly about first hand experience of violence, that has clearly given them a different perspective on the film.

At times I felt a little bit like an outsider looking in, and sometimes I couldn't relate, or get into it, some of the sequences felt just a tad slow, some threads were explored but not tied up, I suppose that's just normal in such circumstances.

It's definitely a powerful time, and one that's very, very relevant in today's day and age, a time where women's rights seem to be being downplayed somewhat.

I would recommend it.

7/10.

It's an ensemble drama set within 24 hours in 2010 in an unknown location. It follows the conversation of three generations of women discussing how to respond to the sexual abuse and rape experienced by many women in the colony over the previous years.

The conversation occurs while the colony's men are away in the city, raising bail for colony men arrested for sexual crimes. Eight women participate in most of the discussion. Two grandmother matriarchs are Agata (Judith Ivey) and Greta (Sheila McCarthy). The next generation includes Ona (Rooney Mara), an unmarried woman pregnant with a child resulting from rape. Mariche (Jessie Buckley) is married to a very abusive husband. Salome (Clare Foy) is Ona's younger married sister who is very angry over the abuse of her young daughter. Some girls from the next generation provide comments and some narration to the film. Scarface Janz (Frances McDormand), another matriarch, leaves the discussion early. Since the women are illiterate (only boys go to school), they ask the schoolteacher, August (Ben Whishaw), to record their discussion. August, who had left the colony with his mother, was university-educated but was allowed to return to teach school.

The film shows no sexual violence but does show some results of the violence. The only adult male face seen throughout is that of August. The women discuss three options: staying and forgiving the perpetrators, staying and fighting the perpetrators, or leaving with all the children under a certain age. They must make a quick decision because one of the men is returning from the city in the evening. The decision taken by the group is a very "Mennonite" one.

I had a lot of ambivalence going into the film. I didn't like the novel when I read it several years ago. The author closely tied the story to accounts of crimes in one of Bolivia's very conservative Mennonite groups. However, the novel's nuanced dialogue was far beyond illiterate Mennonite women without education who could not even read a map. And a university-educated August would never be allowed back to teach in such a conservative colony.

Sarah Polley extracts the story from Mennonite specificity (the film never mentions the word and doesn't mention "Mennonite" last names). Polley uses very subdued colors in the filming, reinforcing the conservative impression. Although the movie's setting still looks Mennonite, its greater abstraction allowed me to focus on the issues being discussed--rage, forced ignorance, the necessity of faith and how to reconcile this faith with what happened, how best to embody their pacifist ethic, etc. The discussion is wide-ranging and doesn't provide easy and ready solutions. Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, and Jessie Buckley are excellent as they express contrasting and shifting perspectives.

"Women Talking" probably needs to be seen multiple times to get all the layers. The Mennonite context sells the movie, but for me, it only made sense to push that representation to the rear. I wish critics would focus on it less. The film's ending unfolds a little too slowly once their decision has been made.

The fact that the movie is set in 2010 and is based on a true story is not easy to believe. The way things unfold, one would think it is at least in the 50s at the latest for the most part. But the way some cults work, and how people fall for them and spend generations in them is a sad truth of our world. Even though it can be technically called a chamber piece, it doesn't feel like one. There's so much in writing and directing that adds novelty to the story which is not exactly something groundbreaking. There are little moments throughout the film that makes the situation more weird and real at the same time that most films don't do.