If there were an award for getting audiences to live out the title of a film, Sarah Polley’s Women Talking would win in a landslide. The recent Academy Award winner for Best Adapted Screenplay has accomplished what good film–and good art, for that matter–is meant to do: provoke thought and response. It has indeed led to women (and men) talking about the movie itself and the themes it explores.
The conversations have largely and understandably revolved around the difficult storyline of religious abuse. Our unfortunate cultural moment has made these kinds of narratives necessary. Many people have grown frustrated with religion as they continue to read stories of abusive leaders and broken systems. Women Talking enters into this dialogue in a unique way. While the film certainly pulls no punches on the evils that religion can bring, it also portrays its potential for beauty and hope. Polley explores the full, complex power of Christianity: how it can tear down and build up. And…
