TIFF 2022 Review: Women Talking (Sarah Polley)

“What follows is an act of female imagination” is the title card that precedes Sarah Polley’s Women Talking — a film derived from a novel of the same name by author Miriam Toews. The story in both versions follows a group of women from an extreme patriarchal and conservative religious group reeling in the aftermath of countless assaults from men in the community.

It is not gratuitous, but reveals some aftermaths of the attacks, be it a child suffering from an STI, an elderly woman with her teeth knocked out, or a ballooned and purpled face riddled with bruises. It is based off of the horrendous true story of a colony of Mennonites in Bolivia, and its many women who experienced serially relentless sexual assaults, up until they reached their breaking point.

The real life women who experienced this, like the women portrayed in the film, reported waking up lethargic, confused and in pain; they were bruised with rope burns on their extremities, lying amongst semen and blood soaked bedding. The women, over 100 of them, had been drugged with livestock tranquilizers, brutally raped in the night and their ages ranged from 3 years old to 65 years of age.

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The men of the group claimed the acts must’ve been committed by demons or ghosts, punishing the women for their own indecent sins or blaming it on hallucinations and female hysteria. It wasn’t until two men were caught in the night breaking into a house that they were arrested, prompting the remaining men to head into town.

So, for perhaps the first times of their lives, the women are left unsupervised for nearly 48 hours, while the men swarm into town to sell livestock, raising money to make bail for those arrested. All the men leave, save for one male schoolteacher whom they trust wholeheartedly to take the minutes of the meeting to come, since the women cannot read or write. They take advantage of this time to congregate in a barn hayloft, having elected eight members from multiple families to form an assembly of sorts. Their job is to break the colony-wide tie after voting to decide their ultimate fate: to stay and attempt to fight, or to pack up and leave everything behind.

The raw performances are the quintessential soul to the film as the impact of the story relies on the writing and the actors’ abilities to unify and become an all-powerful element, capable of moving audiences. Luckily, the talent is abound and they are more than able to do so with ease. The decorated cast is comprised of names like Rooney Mara, Jessie Buckley, Claire Foy, Ben Whishaw and a brief but influential Frances McDormand.

The group gathers in the barn hayloft and the nervous, frantic energy is palpable. On the walls, scribbled on sheets of parchment are pros and cons lists for both options —staying to fight or leaving. Schoolteacher, August (Ben Whishaw) brings a calming and gentle energy to the group, sitting attentive and quiet, and pining over Ona (Rooney Mara) with the utmost respect. He sits at the ready with pen and paper in hand, noiselessly observing and scribing as the deliberation begins.

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Each of the women have differing opinions, concerns, fears and beliefs. Some think forgiveness is essential for if they don’t forgive the men they will be endangering their place in heaven. Mariche (Jessie Buckley) suggests staying, but she is ultimately apprehensive of this and crippled with fear. Fear and confusion for herself, her daughters and what is to come. Salome (Claire Foy) on the other hand is keen to fight, heart set on revenge and is on the brink of emotional explosion throughout, yet brings herself back from the edge the majority of the time. Ona (Mara), pregnant with the child of her attacker, is the subdued and philosophical voice, not eager to forgive or to condone violence. Instead, she brings up the question of forgiveness — if it is a thing forced upon them… is it still truly forgiveness?

There are morals to ponder, religion to consider and family ethics to reflect upon. At what age do they not allow their sons to come with if they leave? Can a thirteen year old boy with a patriarchal mindset pose a threat to a female? The answer is yes, so what about a twelve year old boy? Together, the women try and find answers to the unanswerable and do their best with the fleeting time they have. All of these characters, individual and as a whole, represent the various ways women have processed, responded to or endured violence from men throughout time, across the globe, for centuries and centuries. 

Having one of the best screenplays of the year and deeply profound performances, one can only hope that a film of this degree holds up in the technical aspects, and well, it doesn’t disappoint. Women Talking’s original score is the genius work of world-renowned Academy Award winning Icelandic composer, Hildur Guðnadóttir. The gorgeously eerie tones of her music permeate the senses with ease, adding to the tense environment on screen.

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The only stumble the film seems to have at all is a glaringly obvious one— it’s quite muddy looking, like a mix between true color and sepia or monochrome. It’s easy to see the cinematography is gorgeous thanks to Luc Montpellier, but it is stifled by the color grading choices made. Of course the creative choice adds to the overall mood and themes and is fairly simple to get used to, but the majority may hope Polley had chosen either monochrome or lively colors instead of somewhere in between. Nevertheless, this is a small folly in a film that boasts an overabundance of astonishing prowess.

Women Talking is a feminist, forward-thinking film that prompts important conversations to take place and imagines the possibility of a world without toxic masculinity, without religious control, and without sexist oppression. It imagines a world where a woman may walk down a street at dusk and not have to carry her keys in between her white-bared knuckles, checking over her shoulder every minute like clockwork.

It features strong women with a sense of self determination who choose the terrifying path of self liberation as they attempt to unlearn oppression and make a stand – a cry, of defiance for themselves, their loved ones and their future. These women hadn’t been taught to read or to write, and the first time they are permitted to see a map is near the end of the film, provided to them by the one man they trust.

The film uses its conversation to call forth the continued support for female rights as well as storytellers and artists. To highlight their work so that they may come together to shout their stories from rooftops, lifting others up and providing maps to every single one of those grasping hands who had never been allowed one before.