In 2010, the women of a Mennonite community must come together to make a decision following the discovery of a terrible secret of the men in their community. There are three options: do nothing, stay and fight, or leave. Great. The incipit is undoubtedly as interesting as it is a thriving ground for opening an important dialogue on concepts such as faith, misogyny, and feminism.

While it is an important film, and an important issue, I found the script to be profoundly insincere and artificial, in dialogue that is more like a skein of feminist slogans piled one after another. The way the characters express themselves, interact, and behave is mechanical and relegated to the stereotype of women they represent. To the most controversial character, McDormand's, I was sorry that, even in her being at fault, no space was left.

On a technical level there is nothing particularly significant; the coloring is interesting, if not particularly aesthetic. The performances of course were good, as the cast is mostly made up of great actresses.

Women Talking is commendable in its intended message, but otherwise it seems a wasted opportunity of cast as much as of reference material.

Rooney Mara and Ben Whislow deserved Oscars for their magnificent performances in this film. He is a former member of a fanatical religious community who had been excommunicated but was allowed to return as a teacher. Mara is one of the women of the isolated flock who has been raped and is pregnant.

Most of the film takes place in a barn with extensive dialogue amongst the women deciding whether to stay or leave after frequent sexual assaults by the men of the self-sustaining farm.

The story is based on a true crime in Bolivia where women were drugged and raped in a Mennonite community and the perpetrators claimed that the victims were delusional.

Mara and Whislow head a great ensemble and this is one of the best films of 2022.