Direction: Sarah Polley
Country: USA
From the pen of Canadian helmer Sarah Polley (Away From Her, 2006; Stories We Tell, 2012), comes Women Talking, a loquacious, average and unpersuasive religious thriller without the holy water. Centered on a very sensitive subject matter - that of women being subjugated, exploited and sexually attacked within a religious colony without the possibility to complain or defend themselves - the film is undercut by shallow characters and cinematic deficiencies. It’s not uninteresting in the idea itself (inspired by a real case in Bolivia) but rather unstimulating, drama-wise. Polley's script was based on Miriam Toews’ 2018 novel of the same name.
The scenarios are mounted with a monotonous visual palette, the calculated dialogues recycle without ever renewing, and the production is so literal that viewers risk staying hungry for bolder cinema. The ensemble cast plays their parts stiffly, and only Jessie Buckley (I’m Thinking of Ending Things, 2020; Men, 2022) stands out tenuously. Ben Whishaw plays August, a sensitive teacher in love and the only male allowed in the barn meetings of a group of illiterate, mistreated women who, collectively, will reach a final decision: to stay and fight their attackers, or to leave for good. Naturally, this is all weighted up by religious considerations and the fear of missing the Kingdom of Heaven.
It’s encouraging that these desperate women abused by vicious men had found a way but there’s still something missing in the unfolding of a story in which the dramatics feel plastically inert.
