Women Talking (Sarah Polley, December 23,2022) Movie

Women in an isolated religious colony struggle to reconcile with their faith after a series of sexual assaults.

Starring Jessie Buckley, Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Ben Wishaw and Frances McDormand.

 

this sounds pretty important

 

book is incredible, can’t wait for this

 

I didn’t realize the star of 2004 Dawn of the Dead was a director now. Was wondering what happened to her

 

hell yes

 

sheesh looks great

 

hmm kinda seems like a poor decision

 

I did not like this as much as I had hoped to, but it was still good. The voice-over took me out of it too often and some of the performances didn't work for me, namely Whishaw (who I usually like) and Claire Foy (I am realizing I just don't think I enjoy her work). Everyone else was pretty stellar though. Jessie Buckley and Judith Ivey get special praise too. They were fantastic.

 

He attacked a woman for supporting Bernie Sanders. He isn't worth listening to.

 

Really don’t like how McDormand’s character largely disappears 10min in and, with her, any real argument that they have about their faith. The movie repeatedly reinforces that all the women are still religious despite what has happened, but when it comes to the debate, that aspect and the incredibly heavy implications of it are not even on the table. It is very easy for an agnostic like myself to consider and appreciate all of the material issues that would go into staying or leaving, but I can’t really appreciate how significant leaving would be for any of them on a metaphysical sense, like for someone to make the impossible choice of what’s necessary for them in the real world vs what they think is necessary for the eternal afterlife. And the movie doesn’t seem even slightly interested in contemplating that either

 

Don't have any thoughtful insights or criticisms at the moment, but I thought this was really good.

 

Important story and topic, but not very good overall/execution.

 

on prime

 

Hell yeah thanks @Serh saved me $6 renting it

 

uh, funny enough this is apparently leaving prime after sunday

 

Found this very odd. It deals with one of the realest issues out there, and didn't water the issue itself down, but the execution didn't ring true to me. It felt more like a play put on by very talented actors for the purpose of raising awareness, and less like a genuine story with transformative power all on its own.

I didn't like that we're never able to learn much about the individual women or their relationships with each other. It was so honed in on the conflict that I never got to learn about anyone outside of it, which felt sort of counter to the message. I also wasn't always sure who was connected to who which made some scenes confusing. It felt incomplete. I just wanted to spend more time with them.

All that said, the message is profoundly needed. So it's ultimately a win. I just think it could have been more powerful as a piece of film, which would have made the message hit harder. I feel like Mass did a similar thing last year on the topic of school shootings and mental health and it was more successful.