Women Talking

     In an unnamed geography and time, a group of women living in a Mennonite colony discover a horrible truth. After one of the colony's men is caught assaulting one of the women after being drugged, they realize they have been assaulted and raped for years by men in their colony. What they were told was hysteria, the work of the devil, or a lack of faith, is suddenly very real.

      Written and directed by Sarah Polly, the film picks up right after the latest assailant is arrested and taken to jail. The men of the colony go as a group to post bail and support the man while the women have twenty-four hours to decide what to do now that they know the truth. After all the women take a vote, a smaller group is left to decide between three choices, do nothing, stay and fight or leave the colony forever.

       Ms. Polly weaves her camera around the women as they discuss their options. Her dialog is sensitive and honest. She shows the assaults in flashbacks with only quick flashes of their aftermath. The group is divided as they argue the pros and cons of their choices. Only one man (played with sincere sympathy by Ben Whishaw) remains to take the minutes of their meeting. Rooney Mara, Jessie Buckley, Claire Foy and Judith Ivy are the most vocal of the group and all give powerful performances.  Also starring is Frances McDormand who speaks volumes with her silence. Making up part of the group are Sheila McCarthy, Michele McLeod, and Kate Hallett.

       Most of the action takes place in the hayloft where the women meet but Ms. Polly opens things up with scenes of children playing in the fields, innocents unaware of what lurks in the underbelly of the colony. Its a powerful and absorbing film that will certainly spark debate.