Taglines: Do nothing. Stay and fight. Leave.
Women Talking movie storyline. 2010. Forced to decide whether to forgive, fight, or leave after realising someone has been abusing them at night, the traumatised mothers, wives, daughters, and sisters of a tight-knit Mennonite colony secretly assemble to vote. But with fear, religious belief, misogyny, and the grave repercussions of rebellion getting in the way of a clear decision, the terrified women find themselves left with no alternative. After all, lengthy discussions require time, the most precious commodity of all. And as tempers flare and tensions boil over, like it or not, the sisterhood will have to take action to make themselves heard.
Women Talking is a 2022 drama film written and directed by Sarah Polley. Based on the Canadian 2018 novel of the same name by Miriam Toews, itself inspired by the gas-facilitated rapes that occurred at the Manitoba Colony, a remote and isolated Mennonite community in Bolivia, the film follows a group of American Mennonite women who discuss their future, following their discovery of the men’s history of raping the colony’s women. It features an ensemble cast that includes Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, Judith Ivey, Ben Whishaw, and Frances McDormand, who also served as a producer on the film.
Women Talking premiered at the 49th Telluride Film Festival on September 2, 2022, and was released in the United States via select theaters on December 23, 2022, before a wide release on January 27, 2023, by United Artists Releasing.
Women Talking grossed $5.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $3.5 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $9 million. On the first weekend of its limited theatrical release, it grossed $40,530 from 8 theaters, making it the worst platform opening of the year. In Deadline Hollywood, United Artists Releasing cited the proximity of Christmas and the nationwide impact of Winter Storm Elliott as contributing factors.
It expanded to 707 theatres in the nationwide expansion, grossing $970,469 with a $1,372 average at the box office until it dropped out on its nationwide second weekend with $558,071, finishing fifteenth twice. Following the Academy Award nomination announcements, the film welcomed a 164% boost in grosses.
Women Talking (2022)
Directed by: Sarah Polley
Starring: Frances McDormand, Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, Ben Whishaw, Judith Ivey, Sheila McCarthy, Michelle McLeod, Kira Guloien, August Winter, Shayla Brown
Screenplay by: Sarah Polley
Production Design by: Peter Cosco
Cinematography by: Luc Montpellier
Film Editing by: Roslyn Kalloo
Set Decoration by: Friday Myers
Art Direction by: Andrea Kristof
Music by: Hildur Guðnadóttir
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for mature thematic content including sexual assault, bloody images, and some strong language.
Distributed by: United Artists Releasing (United States), Universal Pictures (International)
Release Date: September 2022 (TIFF), December 2, 2022 (United States)
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