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Women Talking
Director and screenwriter Sarah Polley scores with 2022's Women Talking, a brutal, disturbing, yet oddly riveting story about a group of deeply religious women who have been through unspeakable horrors in a story whose precious little backstory only fuels the power of the piece.
This incredible fact based story introduces us to a group of deeply religious women who are the female population of a religious community simply known as The Colony. For almost four years, these women have been drugged and physically and sexually abused by the men of the community. The men have temporarily gone to the city and the women grab the opportunity to decide what to do. They vote on whether to stay and fight or to just leave. After the vote they have a meeting to discuss what to do and a young man named August (the only adult male in the film) is there to offer advice and take the minutes of the meeting.
Polley has mounted an ugly story on a prisiine canvas, giving it even more of a disturbance factor. We don't see any of the abusers in this story, in fact, the only thing we see in terms of backstory is flashes of some of the women with bruises on their legs and blood all over their nightgowns. Eventually, this forces the viewer to focus on the pain these women have gone through and their desperation to be rid of it, which I'm pretty sure was Polley's intentions.
It's lovely watching these women allow their faith to guide them through their decision making process and not the expected pure anger that should accompany such an experience. I loved that only a few of the women felt they should definitely stay or definitely leave as the story opens and that most of them are truly conflicted about what they should do. I also found myself concerned about August. Couldn't help but wonder what his fate would be when the men returned.
Polley has crafted a story so compelling that it has earned Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay, the latter of which I think it should win. The cast is uniformly excellent with standout work from Rooney Mara, Jessie Buckley, Judith Ivey, Claire Foy, and Ben Whishaw, who was robbed of a Supporting Actor nomination for his sensitive turn as August. Not for all tastes, but for those game, an edgy and challenging film experience.
Director and screenwriter Sarah Polley scores with 2022's Women Talking, a brutal, disturbing, yet oddly riveting story about a group of deeply religious women who have been through unspeakable horrors in a story whose precious little backstory only fuels the power of the piece.
This incredible fact based story introduces us to a group of deeply religious women who are the female population of a religious community simply known as The Colony. For almost four years, these women have been drugged and physically and sexually abused by the men of the community. The men have temporarily gone to the city and the women grab the opportunity to decide what to do. They vote on whether to stay and fight or to just leave. After the vote they have a meeting to discuss what to do and a young man named August (the only adult male in the film) is there to offer advice and take the minutes of the meeting.
Polley has mounted an ugly story on a prisiine canvas, giving it even more of a disturbance factor. We don't see any of the abusers in this story, in fact, the only thing we see in terms of backstory is flashes of some of the women with bruises on their legs and blood all over their nightgowns. Eventually, this forces the viewer to focus on the pain these women have gone through and their desperation to be rid of it, which I'm pretty sure was Polley's intentions.
It's lovely watching these women allow their faith to guide them through their decision making process and not the expected pure anger that should accompany such an experience. I loved that only a few of the women felt they should definitely stay or definitely leave as the story opens and that most of them are truly conflicted about what they should do. I also found myself concerned about August. Couldn't help but wonder what his fate would be when the men returned.
Polley has crafted a story so compelling that it has earned Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay, the latter of which I think it should win. The cast is uniformly excellent with standout work from Rooney Mara, Jessie Buckley, Judith Ivey, Claire Foy, and Ben Whishaw, who was robbed of a Supporting Actor nomination for his sensitive turn as August. Not for all tastes, but for those game, an edgy and challenging film experience.