Movie #2181 ........................"Women Talking" (movie theater)

 Movie #2181 "Women Talking " (movie theater) This film had an indie feel to it ---- and I'm very surprised that it has been elevated to status of one of the 10 best films of 2022 , according to the Hollywood Academy.  Not that it isn't deserving, but it is just not a film i would think a lot of people would enjoy watching, but then a lot of these movies fit that bill this year.  This film relies on listening..... and listening a lot because as seen in the title, there's a lot of talking by a handful of women.  You come into the middle of the argument and need to catch up quickly with very little information.  I know as i listened, I had several questions that popped up that were never answered.  It was helpful to read an article afterwards about how there is a society like this in South America , and when the writer had heard about it and visited it (in disguise), she got material for the script of this movie.  The emotion comes entirely through what the actors say ---- and they are all more than capable of delivering the argument:  Roony Mara, Judith Ivey, Claire Foy, Frances McDormand, and Jessie Buckley....The thing is that we never SEE the evil, which makes it more difficult to be pulled in emotionally.  We see the results (marks on the women's body, a flashback to Roony Mara's  results from a recent rape before the opening of the film), and I'm glad for that because there's very little if any gratuitous violence ---- we know from looking at their marked up bodies and the look in their eyes and what little they say  about  the violent situation they have been living in, but we never see the bad guys, never get to vent anger at them --- so the ending, when it finally comes, should be a bit more rewarding....but then again, we aren't quite sure, what is coming next, so maybe that was done on purpose?   Anyway, if you are going to see this film, make sure you are ready to listen, listen, listen.....this is another film this year that is a tough watch, but worth it.  I'd give it a 4, if just for the excellence in the ensemble acting.  

"WOMEN TALKING"    PG-13(I question this personally - should be R)    1 hour and 44 mins  2022

Do nothing.  Stay and fight.  Or leave.  Those are the choices in the opening vote of the women in this film.  In 2010, the women of an isolated religious community grapple with reconciling a brutal reality with their faith.

Director:  Sarah Polley

Writers:  Sarah Polley, Miriam Toews

Actors:  Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley