Do nothing, stay and fight, or leave. These are the choices the women of an isolated Mennonite community in 2010 give to themselves after they have come to realize that many of the men in their village have been entering homes late at night, drugging women – some very young – with horse tranquilizers before raping them and escaping into the night. Based on the book of the same name by Miriam Toews, which itself was inspired by true events that took place in a similarly religious community in Bolivia, Women Talking is…well, just that. A 12 Angry Men-esque drama that forces these women to make a tough decision in even tougher circumstances.
The main players here are Ona (Rooney Mara), Salome (Claire Foy), Mariche (Jessie Buckley), each representing the three choices. Mariche wants to do nothing, and even worse, forgive the men for what they have done so that the women can be allowed to enter the kingdom of heaven. Salome is the most radical of the bunch, ready to kill to protect her children if need be. Ona, the most quiet of the bunch, and pregnant with the child of her rapist, opts to leave. You also have folks like Agata (Judith Ivey) and Greta (Sheila McCarthy), two of the elders, who help keep the peace when discussions get heated. And off to the side, you have the obligatory one good guy in August (Ben Whishaw), a schoolteacher assigned to take minutes of the meeting.
There is an obvious joke to be made about how the film delivers exactly what the title promises, but that feels intended by design. It is a film about discussion, about debate, about ideas regarding female autonomy, the patriarchy, the confines of religion, and so many other big themes that are sadly still very much in the moment. From the #MeToo movement to current protests happening in Iran due to constant struggles facing the women there, this film is very much about why these conversations are so sorely needed. And writer/director, Sarah Polley has a strong understanding of the way women think and process trauma, and is able to translate those feeling cinematically.
However, there are a handful of things that did give me pause. First and foremost, while the framing and composition from cinematographer, Luc Montpellier, are effective and very solid, the extremely drab color grading combined with the extremely wide 2.76 : 1 aspect ratio makes for an experience that is incredibly hard on the eyes. As a creative choice, it makes sense, it’s a clear way of conveying the oppressive feeling that hangs over this community. I just wish it didn’t make the movie so hard to look at. Because aside from that, the technical aspects are strong, from the patient editing from Christopher Donaldson and Roslyn Kalloo to the score from Hildur Guðnadóttir that highlights the moments and characters without overpowering them.
The other thing that left me with some mixed feelings was some of the characterization. It’s a thing I see a lot in these sorts of message movies where characters are there to be stand-ins for the idea, but not as a fully realized character. That appears to be the case for many of the core characters here, particularly with Salome and Mariche. Ona fares better, but not by much, as her place as the reasonable one doesn’t leave a lot of room to explore all the complicated ideas and feelings her character is going through. Funnily enough, the most well-rounded and complicated of the bunch here is Ben Whishaw’s August, sometimes to a weirdly absurd extent, given some revelations about his character towards the end.
What ultimately lifts the film above these issues are mainly in the script and especially the performances. The ensemble put together here is terrific with hardly a weak link among the bunch. Even when the writing might leave much about these characters unsaid outside of these given circumstances, the looks, the dynamics, the way they carry themselves all have this sense of history that really makes you buy into their situation. Buckley and Foy, due to the very nature of their characters, give fiery performances that really grab your attention, but even lowkey performances from folks like Mara, McCarthy, Whishaw, and smaller players like Michelle McLeod, Liv McNeil, all add to the heft that the film carries.
Women Talking isn’t a flawless film, but it’s a strong one overall, and one that is able to overcome plenty of its issues through the talents of all the people involved. It’s a film about conversations that should spark conversations, and it is able to convey the necessity for those talks in a way that is deeply affecting and at times quite haunting. It’s simultaneously in your face with its themes while also playing things in a relatively calm and quiet manner. It’s hard not to see these events mean more than just what we see on the surface, as Sarah Polley has notably written a NY Times op-ed about an experience she had with Harvey Weinstein, and the general way Hollywood has treated women. Weinstein is currently featured in a film called She Said, which details the writing of the Times article that exposed him. But he’s not the end of the story. He’s just one man out of many. Many who are still in power, who call the shots, and it’s hard to take them to task for the things they have done or enabled. Just like the men in the village. It’s hard to say how much they can change when all they’ve ever known is their way being the only way. I certainly don’t have the answers. I don’t think Polley would say she does either. But it’s still worth talking about.
Women Talking is now out in select theaters.