One of the buzziest movies to premiere during the 2022 fall film festivals was Women Talking, a new drama from Canadian filmmaker Sarah Polley. With a mostly female cast featuring a number of Oscar-nominated and winning actresses, Women Talking is often part of the conversation when talking about awards contenders.
Here is everything that we know about Women Talking.
How to watch Women Talking
Women Talking is now playing in movie theaters worldwide.
Also, for a limited time, the movie is being made available on Prime Video for no additional cost. This special offer is available through 9 pm PT on March 12.
Women Talking plot
Here is the official synopsis for Women Talking:
"A group of women, many of whom disagree on essential things, have a conversation to figure out how they might move forward together to build a better world for themselves and their children."
We can gather a bit more about the plot as the movie is based on the novel Women Talking by Miriam Toews. The book, released in 2018, is set in a Mennonite community and sees these women conducting a secret meeting in a hayloft to discuss the revelation that they are being drugged and abused by the men in their colony.
Women Talking reviews — what the critics are saying
Women Talking played both the Telluride Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival, where critics got to give their first takes on the movie. The early word has been strong for the #MeToo drama.
Rotten Tomatoes scores the movie as "Certified Fresh" at 91%; over on Metacritic, another review aggregator, it's scoring an 78.
Here are some snippets from Women Talking reviews:
Sarah Miller, SlashFilm: "Moments of levity and joy twinkle throughout the crackling, tense narrative, endearing the characters to us viewers."
Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times: "Women Talking gathers extraordinary emotional force, and also something more: genuine spiritual weight."
Leah Greenblatt, Entertainment Weekly: "There’s a deep vein of humor and humanity that Polley and her actors mine from the text, and something quietly mesmerizing in their meticulous world-building."
Women Talking awards and nominations
Here's a rundown of the major awards and nominations that Women Talking has been given:
Academy Awards
- Best Picture (nominee)
- Best Adapted Screenplay — Sarah Polley (nominee)
Golden Globes
- Best Screenplay — Sarah Polley (nominee)
- Best Score (nominee)
Critics Choice Awards
- Best Picture (nominee)
- Best Supporting Actress — Jessie Buckley (nominee)
- Best Acting Ensemble (nominee)
- Best Director — Sarah Polley (nominee)
- Best Adapted Screenplay — Sarah Polley (nominee)
- Best Score (nominee)
London Critics Circle Awards
- British/Irish Actress of the Year — Jessie Buckley (nominee)
National Board of Review
- Best Ensemble
- Top 10 Film
Film Independent Spirit Awards
- Best Director — Sarah Polley (nominee)
- Best Feature (nominee)
- Best Screenplay — Sarah Polley (nominee)
- Robert Altman Awards (winner)
Gotham Awards
- Best Screenplay — Sarah Polley (nominee)
- Outstanding Supporting Performance — Ben Whishaw (nominee)
- Outstanding Supporting Performance — Jessie Buckley (nominee)
American Film Institute
- AFI Movie of the Year
Los Angeles Film Critics Association
- Best Supporting Performance — Jessie Buckley (runner up)
Women Talking cast
There are some major names making up the cast of Women Talking.
Headlining the mostly female ensemble are Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), Claire Foy (The Crown), Jessie Buckley (The Lost Daughter) and Frances McDormand (Nomadland). They are joined in the cast by:
- Judith Ivey as Agata
- Emily Mitchell as Miep Friesen
- Kate Hallett as Autje
- Liv McNeil as Neitje
- Shelia McCarthy as Greta
- Michelle McLeod as Mejal
- Kira Guloien as Anna
- Shayla Brown as Helena
- Vivien Endicott Douglas as Clara
Also part of the cast is Ben Whishaw (This Is Going to Hurt) as August Epp.
Check out some pictures from Women Talking:
Women Talking trailer
The official trailer for Women Talking is here. It's short, but it features some big moments and juicy pieces of dialogue from the movie's A-list ensemble of actresses. Check it out below:
Women Talking director Sarah Polley
Sarah Polley began her career as an actress who starred in movies like The Sweet Hereafter, eXistenZ and Dawn of the Dead. However, she hasn’t acted in a movie or TV show since 2010 as she has devoted her career to writing and directing.
Polley’s feature directing debut was the movie Away from Her, which was nominated for two Oscars: Best Actress for Julie Christie and Best Adapted Screenplay for Polley. She followed that up with the Michelle Williams and Seth Rogen movie Take This Waltz and then the deeply personal documentary Stories We Tell.
Polley also wrote and directed the Netflix miniseries Alias Grace.
