Away from Her director Sarah Polley locates an empowering resonance in an adaptation of Miriam Toews’ 2018 novel.
Women Talking is a volume to be less than dramatically dynamic, but that may be the case for what can be moving and sincere from a distaff faith-based octet. One that is motivated by lies, male subjugation, and patriarchal structure.
The moo is clearly saturnine from a hayloft where listening and how to handle troubling hostility comes to the fore. In a secluded religious community in a Mennonite colony there’s piquancy and poignancy from a solid ensemble not aiming for turns that includes Rooney Mara, Frances McDormand, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckey, and Judith Ivy.
Obviously not as cinematic as provocative this Talking is reinforced by compelling women on the verge.