MIND THE GAP | US CINEMA

US 2022, 104 min, Director: Sarah Polley

Powerful, committed performances by an extraordinary ensemble—including Frances McDormand, Judith Ivey, Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, and Ben Whishaw—take us deep into the lives of a group of women as they confront a life-and-death decision: To remain in silence, or to leave in exile. Much of the action occurs in the confined setting of a village barn in their isolated Mennonite colony—located somewhere both far from our modern world and too painfully close for comfort—where the women gather secretly to determine a course of action in the wake of an urgent crisis that has affected all of their lives. In the supremely capable hands of director Sarah Polley (Away from Her, Stories We Tell), Miriam Toews’ best-selling novel unfolds as a deeply human drama driven by extraordinary performances in this profound, moving film. Based on true events, Women Talking is an exhilarating paragon of collective organizing and female agency that may well be the prescient wake-up call for our times. —KD Davis