Women Talking is a quiet movie. A sort of gender-flipped 12 Angry Men, writer/director Sarah Polley’s film (based on Miriam Toews’ novel) observes a group of Mennonite women as they debate what to do about predatory men in their community. Should they stay and forgive, stay and fight, or flee and chart their own path separate from the men? Eleven women meet in a hayloft to discuss their options and decide for the rest. Appropriately for something called Women Talking, the movie is mostly dialogue-driven to the point that it almost feels like a stage play at times. Flashbacks add an occasional cinematic flare, filling in the necessary backstory, but conversations drive the narrative. There are no action-driven set pieces or anything of the sort—just women talking—but the stakes are as high as any blockbuster, and for the women at its center, the consequences are equally as perilous. The titular women—led by a cast…
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