Women Talking (2023)

Nominated for Best Picture at the upcoming Oscars, Sarah Polley’s adaptation of Miriam Toews 2018 novel is an intricate and theological affair. Cynics might suggest the set up of a nearly all female cast and a female director was a shoe in for Oscar notice thanks to the lack of female presence nominated in last years’ main categories, but the fact that neither Polley or Charlotte Wells (for Aftersun, also staggeringly not nominated for Best Picture) are not to be seen amongst the best director nominees means that, simply put, the Oscars have got it all wrong again. Polley’s film is not, as many high profile critics have called it, a masterpiece, but it is very impressive. The women and girls of a Mennonite community find out that some of the men in the colony have been using cow tranquilizer to subdue and rape them, leading to the attackers being arrested and imprisoned in a nearby city.

This leaves the women with two days to decide what they’re going to do after most of the remaining men travel to the city to oversee the bail, and they leave themselves three options, to stay and do nothing, to stay and fight, or to leave.

They’re helped in their discussions by one of the remaining men, an excellent Ben Wishaw who takes the notes of their meetings that are all held in a barn. Women Talking is titled as such for a reason; that is what the majority of the film focuses on, shot with a very effective blue/grey colour pallet which relates to the grim predicament the women find themselves in.

The performances are all terrific, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley (proving she’s one of the finest actresses in the world currently), Rooney Mara and Frances McDormand (who we don’t see enough of) all bounce off each other superbly, and the film is at its strongest when theological debates intersect the engaging and often heated discussions amongst them.

There are one or two characters that appear to be placed there for the sake of it and don’t really push the narrative in a forward direction; seemingly present to tug at our heartstrings somewhat and they simply don’t need to; the women themselves are more than interesting enough to hold the film. But mostly Women Talking is a fine piece of work; whether it deserves to be up for Best Picture is up for debate (certainly not ahead of Aftersun) but it is without doubt worth your time. 7.8/10