Women Talking Review
Theatrical review
Content note: This movie and the review discuss rape and sexual abuse of women and children.
In 2005 in Bolivia, a Mennonite community’s women were drugged and raped. The attacks went on for four years, while the women, who were largely uneducated, were told that the attacks were caused by demons or ghosts. Eventually the men were caught and prosecuted, but at least 130 women were victimized, from ages 3 to 65. In 2018, author Miriam Toews took this story and created a fictionalized version of it, and now writer and director Sarah Polley has adapted “Women Talking” to film.
When Autje (Kate Hallett) awakens during her attack, she identifies two men in the colony. They, along with several others, are taken by the police, in part to protect them from the rage of the women. While all of the men are gone, paying bail to release the assailants, the women of the colony meet to decide what they will do. Will they stay and forgive the men as their faith demands? Will they stay and fight? Or will they leave and begin a new life?
The women gather in a hay loft to discuss their options with August (Ben Whishaw), the only man allowed to take notes. Scarface Janz (Frances McDormand) believes they must stay, lest they all forfeit an afterlife in heaven. Mariche (Jessie Buckley) fears her abusive husband, but is the most adamant that they fight. Both Ona (Rooney Mara) and Salome (Claire Foy) bounce back and forth between staying and leaving. Can forgiveness actually be called forgiveness if it is forced? Will staying violate their pacifist beliefs by forcing them to violence or allowing continued violence against them? Will leaving damn them all? The film examines every angle.
This is, as the title suggests, a film of women talking. But lest you think that this is a dull film, let me assure you that it is not. The women in it all deliver outstanding performances, and in their conversations, we experience the full range of emotions. Humor, horror, reverence, sadness, rage, resolve - all of this is portrayed beautifully by every single actor. This was a near perfect ensemble.
Polley does an absolutely masterful job conveying the depth of the depravity in this community while never forcing us to watch a rape or even listen to the retelling of it. The most gruesome part is the aftermath of a miscarriage, when Melvin (August Winter) confronts their brother about the rape. We know that this is pervasive and ongoing not because we see it, but because we feel the reverberations of this violence in every syllable these women speak.
Feminism often has a certain look associated with it, and it is seldom women in drab clothes with their hair in braids and under head coverings. But make no mistake, this is a feminist film. “Women Talking” is about a group of people who have had their voice silenced choosing to make themselves heard to protect themselves and their families and even their attackers. Their words are powerful and we should listen.
This review originally appeared in The Dominion Post on January 29, 2023.