Oscar Season: Women Talking (2022)
Women Talking is a poignant film about the immediate aftermath of extreme sexual abuse within a religious cult - and the women who try to escape it.
The movie, written and directed by Sarah Polley, is an adaptation of Miriam Toews' novel of the same name. It was recently nominated for two Oscars: Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay.
And if the Academy Awards had a Best Ensemble Oscar, the film's cast would definitely qualify as well.
The actresses, including stars like Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley and Rooney Mara, do an excellent job, while Ben Whishaw does a good job too in the only significant male role, as the secretary of the Women Talking.
Toews' book is based on a true story of a Mennonite community in Bolivia. Polley moved the story to North America.
When the film starts, the main culprits have just been arrested by the police, while the other men have gone with them to arrange bail. The women now face a difficult choice: stay and fight for a better position within their community; leave and start a new life somewhere else; or submit to the inevitable, when the men return.
Only Scarface Janz (a small role played by producer Frances McDormand), who is too frightened to even dream of a better life, wants to stay.
The other women have a limited amount of time to decide their fate, which puts some pressure on proceedings.
The story plays out in a spacious barn, which doubles as their meeting room. For the most part, that theatrical approach works just fine.
Sarah Polley, who started out as an actress herself, turns the movie into a masterclass in blocking and business. With clever camera angles, she makes every emotion among the women tangible: the angry Maricke (Buckley), the ethereal Oona (Mara), the apparently calm but subconsciously murderous Salome (Foy), and so on.
Women Talking won't be for everyone, the film is all talk and very little action. But that doesn’t really matter. What does matter is that the women in Women Talking are finally moving in the right direction - and the world will be a better place for it.