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Women Talking film image, director Sarah Polley, starring Rooney Mara and Claire Foy

Women Talking

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Sarah Polley’s riveting adaptation of Miriam Toews’ novel catapults her to the forefront of North American filmmakers. This is the strongest and most compelling movie to come out of the #MeToo movement to date. The subject matter is unquestionably daunting, but the treatment is impassioned and fierce—and, often, also, desperately funny.

Some background: Toews grew up in a Mennonite community in Manitoba. Her 2018 novel was a response to a horrific news story exposing the systemic abuse of more than 130 women who were repeatedly drugged and raped in a Mennonite colony in Bolivia between the years 2005-09. Polley (who also wrote the screenplay) doesn’t shy away from the challenge of the title: as in the book, the action here centres on a secret meeting eight women hold in a hayloft as they come to terms with the revelation that they were not assaulted by “demons,” but by their supposed “protectors,”the husbands and fathers at the heart of their enclosed community. The stellar cast (including Oscar nominees Jessie Buckley and Rooney Mara, and Oscar winner Frances McDormand) unearths every shred of human dignity in this nightmarish scenario.

 

People’s Choice Award’s first runner-up, TIFF 2022

Director

Sarah Polley

Cast

Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, Judith Ivey, Ben Whishaw, Frances McDormand

Credits
Country of Origin

USA

Year

2022

Language

English

Content Warning

Sexual Violence, Graphic Violence

18+
104 min
Award Winners Drama Women Directors

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Credits

Executive Producer

Brad Pitt, Lyn Lucibelllo Brancatella, Emily Jade Foley

Producer

Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Frances McDormand

Screenwriter

Sarah Polley

Cinematography

Luc Montpellier

Editor

Christopher Donaldson, Rosyln Kalloo

Production Design

Peter Cosco

Original Music

Hildur Guðnadóttir