Women Talking is a synecdoche for women in western culture everywhere. This film is set in a Mennonite colony where the men have gone away to sell property to raise bail for other men of their community who have been charged with drugging and sexually assaulting many of the community's women and while they are away the women meet to decide what to do about the situation.
Women Talking is a talkie movie set in a specific space in a specific time. I will confess I am partial to these sorts of narratives as I find these moments in time explorations fascinating. These women struggle with their relationships to their faith, the men in their lives, their prescribed gender roles, their safety, their responsibilities to their children (especially their daughters), and the dangers the future may face. They are not monolithic but they are all in this together. In this way this moment in time, like these women in this story, are a wrestling with what all women wrestle with in a patriarchy. It opens up the door for us all to think about how our cultures handle sexual assault and the way men lord power over other genders.
As a talkie film sometimes Women Talking does err on the side of characters pontificating. I let this slide mostly because of my penchant for these sorts of play structures. But many times the script has its characters explain their motivations a little more than feels natural.
But the cast truly shines. The actors here are a collection of some of the most exciting actors working today and they are an ensemble to die for. They electrify every scene. It is hard to say anyone stands out as they all play together so well. They are able to represent such a rich diversity of voices in this conversation, complicated voices who don't fall into easily definable motivations.
Director Polley films her story in a washed out colour palate that is beautiful to watch and creates a feeling that conveys both the urgency of the moment and the need to take the time to talk things through. This balance is maintained throughout the film, even as the end draws closer and there are moments of haste. But Women Talking spends time cultivating the ways these humans we are following have been socialized along gender lines and how their approach therefore is different than the approach of those they are separated from. The film includes two characters that are not women (besides some of the boys who are running around in the background) a cis man and a trans man whose relationship with the women is contrasted in complicated and surprising ways. By casting Whishaw as the only cis-man the women include in their discussions (although his role is simply to record the minutes) he brings a different portrayal of masculinity to this role adding the film's examination of gender in fascinating ways.
But it is the centring of women, women whose prescribed role is not to be centred, where the film is the strongest, exploring the conflicting views, positions, and passions of these women, played by one of the strongest casts I've seen in a while. Women Talking is a fascinating conversation and one we should all be having.
Women Talking
Starring: Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, Ben Whishaw, Francis McDormand, Judith Ivey, Sheila McCarthy, August Winter
Writer/Director: Sarah Polley
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