Mad Over Movies: Of Talking Women and Uncertain Futures

“Do nothing, stay and fight or leave”. To say this film does a phenomenal job of making us understand the gravity of these simple words would be an understatement. Every year we get movies that seem Oscar-baity in appearance but actually turn out to be more heartful and endearing than you imagined. “Women Talking” was one such movie for me from 2022. The awards season came and went and I’m not satisfied with the little recognition it received. So now I wish to give you a film that needs much more love than it got.

Based on Miriam Toews’ book of the same name, “Women Talking” tells the harrowing tale of the women belonging to a Mennonite colony who are tasked with deciding how to face the men of the colony, some of whom were found to drug the women in their sleep and assault them. The assailants are arrested and all the menfolk of the colony go to bail them out. In this precious time, the women congregate to make a singular decision. But they have three options – do nothing, stay and fight or leave. And they have two days to figure out the whole ordeal.

When I initially learned that the film was based on a book, I assumed that it was a work of fiction. But to my horror, the book, with its plot being fictitious, was actually based on a series of real-life incidents that happened in the Manitoba Colony, an ultraconservative Mennonite settlement in Bolivia. Taking the central themes of the struggles faced by those real women, author Toews’ gives us our group of women of various ages but all having faced the same trauma. How they come to a decision in spite of having different ideologies and varied opinions forms the crux of the story. The film is set within a confined space (almost within a barnyard) and there have been similar films where you could almost guess that it was adapted from a stage play. “Women Talking” never felt stagey to me in spite of having just scene after scene of lengthy dialogues and discourses. The poignant dialogue and the sensitive approach to the subject matter made me appreciate this confined setting even more. However repetitive or heated the discussions ran, I never felt bored. Even when the conversations digressed, I was surprised by how these detours ultimately fed into the main story. Everything ties back to the abuse they suffer due to the system created and perpetuated by the men. Their clothes and manner of talking might fool us into thinking that we are in some yesteryear but their problems are sadly relevant at any time and that’s what makes this film even more important in this day and age.

Literally, every one of these fantastic women was firing on all cylinders, especially the ‘main’ trio – Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, and Rooney Mara. Each of their characters was as different from the other and yet you can easily empathize with where each of them comes from and why they pick the sides they picked.

I’m happy that the film won a well-deserved Oscar for its screenplay but I think it’s criminal that none of these ladies got an acting nom.

Of course, when you need to make a banger film you need a banger cast and I don’t think you’ll find a better ensemble cast than this one. Not to look like I’m praising only these three, but all of the principal cast ranging from the most senior to the youngest does a commendable job on screen. And then there’s Ben Whishaw amidst these powerhouse women. I’ve always loved him and he’s perfect in this film too.

The film had a beautiful yet haunting background score and I was surprised to see in the end credits that it was Hildur Guðnadóttir of “Joker” and “Chernobyl” fame. Whether it be the melodious tracks or the ominous ones, each of them felt perfect for the scene and accentuated the mood. If there’s one complaint, I’d have sided with the multitude of reviewers who took issue with the drab cinematography, or more particularly with the color grading. I understand that the film has this dull coloring to emphasize the dire situation of the women but I think it could’ve been done better without having me thinking whether some scenes were in black and white or not.

These past couple of years I’ve been trying to catch up on my older hobby of reading and immediately after finishing the film, I started reading the book. I’m not yet finished with the book but there are plenty of tiny details in the film that started making sense. In due time I will finish the book and appreciate the film even more but till then here’s a reminder from my side to watch this fantastic film sooner!

My rating: 9.5/10