[Quick Summary: After women of a insular religious colony have been secretly drugged and raped by men in their colony, they must decide whether to stay or go.]
The protagonists here have the odds stacked against them, and it's great for tension.
They cannot read, write, or own anything. They do not even know where they live on a map. They've been secretly drugged and raped for the last two years.
But the film is essentially the group weighing their options the barn. How would the writer would keep the tension up in Act 2?
First, there is a ticking clock. The men are in the city to post bail for the suspects and will only be gone a couple of days. The script moves along at a certain rhythm.
Then the rhythm is interrupted and the clock is sped up by the unexpected return of one man, Klaas. This immediately ups the tension and urgency for all.
However, I was particularly impressed by how this one arrival caused three different reactions in the women from his family (see notes below).
In the scene below:
- There has been a moment of laughter in the previous scene.
- Greta is the mother of Mariche. Mariche is married to Klaas. Their daughter is Autje.
- Greta's beloved horses are Ruth and Cheryl.
- Notice the emotional effect of Klaas' unexpected return on an inter-generational level: He is coming back to take his mother-in-law's horses. His wife is afraid of him personally. His daughter must be too, to side with her mom.
INT. HAYLOFT - LATE AFTERNOON
...When it dies down, Autje, looks around at all of the women, her face serious.
AUTJE: Excuse me. Excuse me. The Census taker just told us that one of our men is planning to return late tonight. He is coming to get some old horses to auction.
GRETA: Ruth and Cheryl!
NEITJE: They need more bail money for the attackers.
Greta lifts her arms into the air. She stumbles back to her seat. Agata sharpens her gaze. They all clamber hastily back to their seats for the meeting. Autje climbs back up into the hayloft and takes her seat as well.
MARICHE: Tonight?
Autje nods.
MARICHE (CONT'D): Which man?
AUTJE: Father.
NEITJE: Your Klaas.
Mariche makes the smallest of small sounds.
MARICHE (quietly, trying to absorb this): Oh.
AGATA: So. Time is of the essence. Everyone get back to your seats.
WHAT I'VE LEARNED: I've seen an unexpected arrival cause an added sense of urgency before, but not three different reactions in one family like the scene above.
Women Talking (2022)(4/12/21 production draft)
by Sarah Polley
Based upon the book by Miriam Toews
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