Women Talking
Short description
Women Talking is set in an isolated Mennonite colony where a group of women have endured repeated sexual assaults carried out by men of their own community. When the attacks come to light, the women gather in secret while the men are away to decide what to do next. With little time and few options, they weigh staying and fighting for change against leaving the only home they have known.
Sarah Polley wrote and directed the film, her second feature after Take This Waltz, based on Miriam Toews's novel. Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, Judith Ivey, Ben Whishaw and Sheila McCarthy lead a cast of twenty-four credited performers, with Frances McDormand among the producers. The production cost about 20 million US dollars, and its worldwide takings were well below that. On IMDb it holds 6.9/10 from around 64,000 votes, while the smaller pool of voters on TMDB gives 6.8/10. Critics rated it 8/10 across roughly 300 reviews, a clear gap above the audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- Until the very end of filming, the actors involved were strongly advised against dyeing their hair or shaving their beards.
- Claire Foy was asked to apply prosthetic eyebrows because her own (which she never thins) were considered too modern.
- In many Mennonite communities, the rules are not as strict as in the one shown in the film, and the community depicted in the film (located in Bolivia) is ultra-conservative. Unlike some other communities, electricity, telephones, and cars are prohibited here. As shown in the film, women in this community are forbidden from learning to read.
- A film adaptation of Miriam Toews's novel of the same name from 2018, which told the true story of a Mennonite community in Bolivia. Between 2005 and 2009, nine men raped Mennonite women who were unconscious (suspected of being drugged), aged between 3 and 60. When the victims regained consciousness, covered in bruises and blood, the men dismissed their complaints, attributing everything to unrestrained female fantasies or divine punishment, even when it resulted in pregnancy.
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