Review: Women Talking

Image courtesy of Orion Pictures.

I was not familiar with the incidents upon which director Sarah Polley's new film, "Women Talking" - which is in turn based on a book by Canadian author Miriam Toews, who grew up in a Manitoba Mennonite community - were based. Needless to say, they are horrifying.

Between 2005 and 2009, about 150 Mennonite women and young girls were drugged and raped by men in their secluded Mennonite community in Bolivia. The age range of the victims was 5 years to 65 years, and a trial - during which the victims testified - led to eight men being sentenced to 25 years in prison.

"Women Talking" is based somewhat on this horrific series of events, but more so on Toews' book, which is less of a recounting of them, but rather a fictionalized response. The film has a somewhat stagey presentation and is primarily set in a barn where the titular action takes place, but it is enlivened by a strong ensemble of very good actors.

As the film opens, a series of drugged rapes has taken place in a Mennonite community that is located, seemingly, in the middle of nowhere. The men in the community have given the women an ultimatum: either forgive the rapists or don't, but the latter choice, the men say, will prevent the women from entering the kingdom of heaven. The women realize that the rapists facing justice is also far from a sure thing.

Some of the victims - a number of whom have been impregnated - claim to vaguely recall being assaulted, while others only found out later. In all cases, they were drugged by their assailants. However, one young pair of girls caught one of the young men responsible in the middle of the act. He ratted out the others, which led to the rapists being taken to the authorities.

The film's setup is that all of the women in the community were able to vote on one of three choices - forgive the men, stay and fight, or leave the community. There was a draw between the final two choices - so a committee of women is selected to debate the two choices, with a Mennonite man - a sensitive teacher named August (Ben Whishaw) who teaches the community's young boys - acting as the transcriber of the meeting's minutes.

There is no suspicion about August's presence as he is in love with Ona (Rooney Mara), one of the women on the committee, and has only recently returned to the community after attending college because his mother, who also questioned the community's male patriarchy, was previously banished from it. He takes notes diligently and is loathe to weigh in when called upon.

The women in the group include Ona, whose opinion about what to do is swayed during the course of the film; Salome (Claire Foy), who is angry and swears she'll sooner murder the community's men before allowing them to get their hands on her daughter; Mariche (Jessie Buckley), who often turns her ire on the group and wants to stay and fight, but is also the victim of an abusive husband; the older and wiser Agata (Judith Ivey); a young woman named Mejal (Michelle McLeod) who is facing health issues due to the forced pregnancy; and Greta (Sheila McCarthy), who often tries to appeal to the group with stories about her two horses. Frances McDormand pops up briefly as an older member of the community who wants to forgive and forget, while other members of the council include two young girls.

There's tension between various members. Mariche gets particularly harsh with Ona when the latter questions her intentions about the decision, while Salome has difficulty being appeased by the group for her righteous anger and her oath to draw blood before allowing her family to be further harmed.

The movie often feels like a filmed play - other than some brief moments when the action moves outside for a walk through the fields or, during one scene that didn't quite register, when a man blasting The Monkees drives his truck through the community - which can feel a little constricting. However, the picture's excellent ensemble makes it work. Movies driven by dialogue - I'm thinking "My Dinner with Andre" or Richard Linklater's lovely "Before" trilogy - can often be invigorating if what is being said is compelling.

In the case of "Women Talking," it is. Polley's filmography - the romantic drama "Take This Waltz, the Alzheimer's saga "Away from Her" and the familial documentary "Stories We Tell" - has been eclectic and unpredictable. Her latest makes a solid - and often harrowing - addition.