Women Talking

I'll admit up front that this is likely going to be an unpopular review and a decidedly minority opinion, but I have to be honest about my feelings. Writer-director Sarah Polley's adaptation of Miriam Toews's novel of the same name may come from a place of noble intent, and it may feature one of the year's finest acting ensembles, but its overall treatment is a major misfire. This fact-based story about a group of women from a conservative religious colony who meet to discuss how to respond to a series of sexual assaults in their community unfolds in a circular, wooden, stagey fashion that plays more like a university discussion group than a work of dramatic cinema. The ideas raised in these dialogues - ranging from activism to passivity to intergender relations to forgiveness to faith and salvation - are certainly lofty topics for consideration and deliberation, especially in terms of how they might be addressed in the forging of a new and better world. But their handling here is so forced and inauthentic that the entire exercise lacks believability and does little to foster a sense of concerted viewer engagement. And, as the narrative drones on and on, it becomes tediously dull, with one of the characters herself astutely observing that "This is very, very boring" (well said, if a bit ironic). What's more, a number of incidents and themes seemingly arise out of nowhere and aren't always fully resolved, making one wonder why they were included in the first place. Even more disappointing is the fact that the film features so many fine portrayals by performers who are given such stilted material to work with, including Jessie Buckley, Claire Foy, Judith Ivey, Sheila McCarthy, Ben Whishaw and Frances McDormand (whose appearance is more of an afterthought than anything else). Director Polley has certainly made a name for herself with such excellent past works as "Away From Her" (2006), but her reach has certainly exceeded her grasp with this undertaking, one that has much to say but ultimately says so little.

This movie needs to be seen in the view of what domestic abuse victims suffer through in their decision process to stay, fight, or leave. Taken in that sense, the conflicts that each woman and the group experience make sense. If you expect a dramatic story within the construct (that of an ultra-conservative fundamentalist community, where the women are kept illiterate and totally subjugated to the men), well then it won't work. These women were much too intelligent to be illiterate, and the men would have been much more a factor in the outcome.

The movie is really about the heartbreaking choices abused women are faced with. Stripped out of the setting and set up, it does work. Suspend disbelief and you will be moved.

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.

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.

Sarah Polley's 'Women Talking' did not work for me. This story of a group of women - all of whom belong to a U. S. religious sect in the 1960's - who are physically and emotionally abused by their menfolk / husbands, seems more like a dispassionate, politically correct lecture, than a dialogue between real people. Real people in pain. And it should not have had that effect. Particularly in these times when the news is filled with detailed descriptions of what real men do to real women.

Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, and. Jesse Buckley play three young women who had been drugged and sexually accosted, and who are now part of a 'commission' asked to decide what the community's women's next steps should be. Should they remain in the community and say / do nothing, remain and fight back, or pack up and leave? In making their decision, each of the three young women describes their lives and their reasons for voting as they do. Rooney Mara's character seems the most undecided, willing to see all sides of the argument and taking different positions over the course of the film. Claire Foy is angry and outspoken but I found it difficult to ascribe a preferred next-step to her. Jesse Buckley is the angriest and, at first, the most unwilling to leave her abusive husband, and it is that - her failure to realize how abused she is - that made me care less about her than I should.

Two senior women participate in the commission and one, played by Judith Ivey - made the strongest impression on me. She has the wisdom that comes with age and the ability to put it into words. Ben Whishaw as the one man invited to the commission brings a startling honesty to the proceedings; he more than anyone knows the evil men can do.

But for me, the film's 'failure' involves the three young women. There is a cold and distanced quality to their recitals. It is as though they are relating a film they saw, a book they read, rather than expressing the anger, the anxiety, the fear they all know very well.

I should have been moved. I should have been angered. I should have been relieved. But I was not.