(2022) – 15 – Drama – 1h 44m
Cast: Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley
Director: Sarah Polley
Plot:
In 2010, the women and girls of an isolated Mennonite colony discover that the men have been using cow tranquilizer to subdue and rape them.
Now they must decide whether to leave the community, stay and fight, or do nothing.
Review:
On the surface, Women Talking hammers home a blunt message: All men are monsters (except that one guy cast out by the others who cries a lot), and women should be in charge of their own fate.
Dig deeper, and the message is: ALL MEN ARE MONSTERS (even the census guy), AND WOMEN SHOULD BE IN CHARGE OF THEIR OWN FATE!
That’s how shallow this movie is.
All the characters are one-dimensional; the dialogue is repetitive; the score is bland; the colour grading is dull and washed out.
See the pattern? There is no depth to any aspect of the film.
There is one character who may be transgender, or possibly they have rejected their femininity to stave off further attacks from the men. This key point to understanding the character is never revealed. Their primary purpose in the movie is to elicit a moment of melodrama which fails miserably because it is trivial, ill-timed, and we have no real connection to the character.
There is no flow or rhythm to Women Talking. No real drama or tension. It is merely a long-winded and mundane discussion interspersed with moments of Oscar bait.
And it worked!
With two nominations and one win it serves as another fine example of why you shouldn’t regard the Oscars as any real mark of quality.
Women Talking could’ve been a significant, thought provoking, female-powered motion picture. Instead, it is a dreary, soulless adaptation of a far superior book.