FIGHT OR FLIGHT? (WOMEN TALKING)

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It's easy to see how Sarah Polley's Academy Award nominated 'Women Talking' could be performed as a play.

An adaptation of Linda Troews' acclaimed 2018 novel, it's a bit of a talkfest.

It has speeches and dialogue that most actors would die for.

While giving her cast the freedom to mine the full dramatic potential of her script, Polley has also pulled off another remarkable feat.

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She has managed to take what on paper looks like a work more suited to the theatre and turn it into a profound cinematic experience.

With the help of Canadian cinematographer Luc Montpellier, the actress director conjures up images that make full use of the possibilities of cinema.

The images and sounds both of them capture ooze authenticity.

Their sense of cinema is so acute and the film is so perfectly tailored, you believe you can smell the farm on which it is set and feel every ripple of the breeze that caresses its fields.

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Inspired by an actual incident in a Mennonite community in Bolivia, 'Women Talking' against all odds makes a compelling case to be hailed as the best #MeToo era film to hit our screens so far.

That's no mean feat in a year which also gave us 'She Said'.

The religious community depicted in Polley's film may be unfamiliar to many moviegoers but the story of sexual abuse, cover up, inequality and male abuse of power will resonate.

It's a story many viewers will have encountered in other religious institutions, in contemporary business, in politics, the military, the entertainment industry, sport and, in the most extreme circumstances, in totalitarian or authoritarian states.

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Polley, who earned a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar nomination for the film, begins her tale with a matter of fact narrative and montage about the drugging and sexual assault of young Mennonite girls and women in the community.

The initial denials of the Elders and their victim shaming will be familiar to those who have witnessed the devastating effect of institutions that cover up sexual abuse allegations.

We briefly see one of the perpetrators fleeing after he is caught trying to launch an assault and are subsequently informed about the arrest of others he identified.

While the Elders and other male Brethren leave the colony to pay the suspects' bail and bring them home, the women deliberate on how to respond.

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Denied schooling by their fathers, husbands, brothers and neighbours, they must learn how to vote and are asked to choose from three options - stay and do nothing, stay and fight the injustice they have experienced or leave the colony.

With the first option regarded by most as a non-starter, the vote ends up being split between remain and fight or leave the colony.

A group of women are, therefore, chosen to debate the options and reach a decision on how to move forward.

The members of the community asked to reach the decision are Rooney Mara's Ona who as a result of a rape is expecting a child, her mother Judith Ivey's Agata, Claire Foy's Salome, Jessie Buckley's Mariche and her teenage daughter Kate Hallett's Autje, her friend Liv McNeil's Nietje, Sheila McCarthy's false teeth wearing Greta, Michelle McLeod's smoker Mejal, Frances McDormand's Janz who bears a noticeable scar on her face, Kira Gurloien's Anna and Shayla Brown's Helena.

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With Ben Whishaw's mild mannered schoolteacher August tasked with capturing the minutes of their debate in a barn, there are early casualties as the discussion gets underway.

Janz leads Anna and Helena out of the meeting because the others will not contemplate a 'do nothing' approach.

What follows is a series of tetchy exchanges as the remaining women thrash out the pros and cons of the remaining two options.

Salome is bursting with fury at the way they have been treated and argues passionately for the women and children to leave.

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It soon becomes clear that her desire to flee is born out of a fear about the type of person she might become.

Mariche is angry also but she is fearful about the ability of the women and children to fend for themselves without the men.

Extremely sensitive about her own family situation, she has a waspish tongue and a tendency to fly off the handle, cruelly lashing out at August and some of the others at various points during the debate.

Amid all the rage, Agata and Greta are voices of calm and reason - often referring to scripture for guidance.

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The younger voices, Autje and Neitje are impatient with the debate just wanting a decision to be reached quickly but Mejal is more engaged.

Ona is a voice of calm too but it is also clear she and August are a good match for each other and are definitely attracted.

Yet despite this, there is a sense that time and circumstances are also working against both of them.

Audiences watching the debate unfold will immediately think of Sidney Lumet's electrifying courtroom drama 'Twelve Angry Men' as arguments are batted back and forth.

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Some may also be reminded of the verbal ping pong of the vigorous debate sequences in Ken Loach's movies 'Land and Freedom,' 'The Wind That Shakes The Barley' and 'Jimmy's Hall'.

'Women Talking,' though, is much more expansive than Lumet's drama.

Its action isn't restricted to the barn and it is often punctuated by stunning images and interesting sounds unfolding outside.

As the debate unfolds, we occasionally see August Winter's Melvin tend to the children, playing with them in the fields.

We learn that Melvin has stopped speaking to other adults since being raped and has started to identify as a man.

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During a break, we see Ona and August flirt by a water pump and discuss later on at night map reading and how to use the Southern Star as a guide.

In another sequence, the arrival of a census truck blaring The Monkees' 'Daydream Believer' inspires different reactions.

Salome shuts the windows and doors of her house to dull the sound, Janz ignores it and goes about her business in her kitchen, while Autje and Nietje rush outside as if it is an ice cream van and converse with the driver.

All of these scenes build up a powerful, yet beautifully observed mosaic of a community torn apart by male oppression and sexual aggression and tentatively grasping for the right solution.

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While the Mennonite garb will seem quaint to most audiences - Janz dons a headdress that is reminiscent of the clothes women are currently forced to wear in authoritarian states like Iran or totalitarian states like Afghanistan - the issues they encounter are the same as women in more conventional settings.

The largely unseen male Brethren cast a shadow over proceedings with their denial of basic rights like education and their protection of the guilty.

The return of one of them injects fear among the women because of his propensity for domestic violence.

However Polley is smart enough not to tar every man with the same brush.

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The character of August, who left the community briefly after his mother defied the Elders, offers an important, compassionate counterbalance .

Given her background, it comes as no surprise that Polley coaxes excellent performances from an exemplary cast.

None of the actors strikes a bum note.

Foy is fabulously fierce as Salome who rages at the women's treatment and passionately protects her children.

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Buckley thrillingly conveys the maelstrom of emotions that Mariche experiences as she struggles to figure out what is the right thing to do.

Mara, McCarthy and Ivey are terrific as the calm, wise heads among the group.

Hallett, McNeil, McLeod, Winter, Gurloien and Brown contribute with intelligent performances - no matter how large or small their role is. 

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Whishaw turns in a subtle, quietly devastating performance as a kind, sensitive soul.

His tender interplay with Mara is especially heartbreaking.

The one surprise, though, is that McDormand, a producer of the movie, generously takes a back seat with a minor role.

Although typically, she makes full use of her limited screen time.

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McDormand's costume also recalls Death in Ingmar Bergman's classic 'The Seventh Seal'.

With just a Best Picture Oscar and an Adapted Screenplay nomination to its name, it's hard not to feel that Polley's film has been unfairly elbowed out of the way during awards season.

It certainly feels like it was mugged at the Oscars.

Some, if not all of Foy, Buckley, Ivey, Mara and Whishaw could have and should have featured in the Academy Awards' acting races.

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Like 'Aftersun' director Charlotte Wells, Polley has good reason to feel hard done by.

Both had a very strong case to make it onto the Directors final shortlist.

Once again instead of rewarding excellence, the Academy and other awards have elevated lesser fare because their story arcs are a better fit for the film industry narrative.

Of course, neither Polley nor her collaborators  on 'Women Talking' actually need Oscar recognition to tell them how good their movie is.

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And when the dust finally settles on 2023's awards season, it is worth remembering the themes that 'Women Talking' has raised will continue to resonate with audiences.

The panache with which Polley has addressed them will also linger much longer than most of the movies receiving statuettes.

'Women Talking' is an important film not just because of its subject matter.

It's a film that shows how magical cinema can be when the alchemy is just right.

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Polley shows how cinema can confront difficult issues with maturity, with style and sheer class.

If you prefer movies about jet fighters, superheroes and blue creatures in imaginary worlds, the  good luck to you.

However we need more movies like 'Women Talking' that move and challenge audiences without doing the obvious.

That's why it deserves your support, regardless of what happens on Oscars night. 

('Women Talking' was released in UK and Irish cinemas on February 17, 2023)