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[filmswithoutfaces]

Women Talking  2022 | dir. Sarah Polley

[nero-neptune]

“I think I kind of fell in love with the Curator. I know that love is a pretty strong word when you’re talking about another woman and she’s not your mother, but there you go.”

I’VE HEARD THE MERMAIDS SINGING (1987)

[catherinesboleyn]

“Sometimes I think people laugh as hard as they’d like to cry.”

Women Talking (2022)

[texaschainsawmascara]

Simmer - Hayley Williams / Women Talking (2022)

[angelstills]

Women Talking (2022)

[escapismthroughfilm]

#169

[moviemosaics]

Women Talking

directed by Sarah Polley, 2022

[filministic]

Women Talking (2022) dir. Sarah Polley

[erstwhile-punk-guerito]

[lucyfishwife]

Watched Day After Tomorrow because honestly, why not, I was bored, it was before we knew Dennis Quaid had regrettable Trump tendencies, bla bla. And lo, there was Agnes, and this is a 20yo film but she's barely aged a day

[suimovies]

“Women Talking”

directed by Sarah Polley

[adamwatchesmovies]

Antiviral (2012)

Writer/director Brandon Cronenberg follows in his father’s body-horror footsteps with Antiviral. Weird and unsettling, you won’t see anything like this one anywhere else.

In the near future, celebrity worship has taken a new form. Avid fans of people like Hannah Geist (Sarah Gadon) want a part of her inside them, want to feel what their idols feel. Some eat cloned celebrity meat. Others get the viruses that make their favorite celebrities sick injected into their bloodstream. At the Lucas Clinic, Syd March (Caleb Landry Jones) sells pathogens to his clients and makes money on the side smuggling these exclusive commodities on the black market. To bypass his work's security measures, he incubates the viruses within himself. When his latest acquisition proves fatal to its host, he must find a cure before it's too late.

The very concept of Antiviral gives you the willies. What’s worse is that it doesn’t seem THAT far-fetched. We live in a world where you can very easily feel like you’re a part of a stranger’s life because you see everything they do. Going to a restaurant so you can eat the replicated flesh of someone you love - even though you’ve never met them - is extreme… but is it more invasive than looking at a leaked sex tape? How many degrees of unhealthiness separate getting a celebrity pathogen from taking a stranger's advice as gospel when it comes to products you should buy, apply on your skin or eat? The people of this world are eating human flesh and making themselves ill because they WANT TO.

Psychologically, the concept gives you the creeps but Antiviral doesn't stop there. Psychologically, it's sick. Physically, it's also sick. Admit it, you get a little squeamish when some medical professional shows you a needle but at least deep down you can feel comfort knowing that this small moment of unpleasantness is for the greater good. You relive that discomfort over and over while watching this film. You see how ill Syd becomes. You can imagine yourself in his shoes thanks to that one time your arm became inflamed after a flu shot. We've all been bedridden with a dreadful cough, thinking we were dying. He's actually dying.

Then there’s the actual plot. What’s worse than willingly giving yourself the same herpes variant some attractive lady contracted? getting some new disease you didn't realize was lethal. Now, this isn’t a pandemic film. We’re not scared that Syd will accidentally cause the end of humanity - this future has measures to prevent diseases from spreading to people who didn't pay. What’s chilling is that this disease might not be natural. Syd was never “meant” to contract this thing that’s in him. More and more, we begin to suspect this bug was manufactured. If it was, for what purpose? In addition to body horror, this is what I’d describe as a "terrify-inc." film; a story that shows how unscrupulous and dangerous big corporations can be when all they care about is money while the government regulations protect them rather than us.

The metaphors in Antiviral are not subtle and some of the characters might be thin but at what it wants to do above all, Antiviral excels. One look at Caleb Landry Jones in those clinically-white rooms and you’re filled with unease. Every shot of a needle penetrating the skin, of blood, mucus, saliva or slime fills you with a new sensation but getting an injection isn’t new… it’s just that something has changed. The ending, in particular, makes you feel a whole lot of “ick!” I mean that in a good way. (On Blu-ray, October 24, 2021)

[texaschainsawmascara]

What if the men refuse to meet our demands?

We’ll kill them.

Women Talking (2022)

[angelstills]

Women Talking (2022)

[foxsoulcourt]

Women Talking

For a VaRiEtY of reasons last week I went down some rabbit holes around this movie + the principals involved.

Navigating this experience illuminated how I want to stretch + grow in terms of exercising leadership, no matter my role within a group or community. I stand in wonder learning a bit about how DeDe Gardner, Sarah Polley + Frances McDormand collaborate. Their vision of how movies can create conversations to help shift important social dynamics INSPIRES ME.

If you are similarly interested, here's some links you might enjoy.

update 3/12/23 8:00pm SARAH POLLEY JUST WON THE ACADEMY AWARD FOR BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY!!! Watch her JoYfuLLy run up to give her iNsiGhTfuL acceptance speech here.

Back in Sept2022 at TIFF2022 (25 min) this L o V e L y small group convo happened. Among other bits, LOVED moderator Sonia Lawrence's summary statement that what she takes from the film into her life is not the community's lack of judgment, but their presence of care.

Here's Frances at MVFF (54 min) - where she read some bits from Sarah Polley's brave book Run Towards The Danger; spoke about the magnificient collaboration between Polley (screenwriter + director), producer Dede Gardner + herself; and described the impact of Polley's way of exercising leadership on others. Watching this video is the first time I've seriously considered using the descriptor 'matriarchal leadership style.' Loved this bit (which is mostly a direct quote), "Movies are not answers, but they are propaganda + conversation starters... we're actively screening at colleges + universities... using the moving to talk about the future, not about the horrible present, but the future + try to radicalise the conversation more. "

Claire Foy in a convo moderated by Kate Erbland (28 min) - about how Foy landed as Salome, what it was like to work with Polley as a director, and more. At 14:05 min there's a sweet bit about the experience of acting with Ben Whishaw + his role in the movie.

NYFF60 (19 min) - Eugene Hernandez does an admirable job getting each person to reflect on the movie within this relatively short panel conversation.

In February Polley + Ben, and then Buckley + Foy were on London Live (9:25 min). L O V E D how about 3/4 of the way through Buckley gently pushes back on interviewer's assumption that the women character's lives were foreign to the actors playing them. They're not, she said, not at all. What WAS foreign + welcome was the ability for a group of women to have an extended conversation about a complex issue and then to make a decision which will have an impact on the rest of their lives. D A M N, if that isn't sobering!

I didn't know August Winter before watching these interviews, so found this Autostraddle interview w/cast member August Winter about the movie + navigating the industry as a non-binary actor + this video. I appreciate hearing from them directly about their character Melvin who is a trans man + learning why silence is such a significant part of their character's behaviour.

Lastly, reading some of Polley's IG posts reminds me that the people I admire most know their worth, yet a l w a y s shine a light on those around them. After listening + watching Polley today, I am even.more.encouraged to do the same. Currently the latter is easier than the former. #work in progress

[abs0luteb4stard]

WATCHING

I never cared about the "debate" about Die Hard Christmas movies. And everyone can discuss it however they like. It's got jingley Music cues and Xmas decorations on scenes/sets and takes place on the holidays.

And they're just good fun any time of the year. I can't tell you how many times I've watched the Die Hard trilogy on a weekend in March. 🤣

It makes me miss my dad, though. I've been missing him anyhow with him dying during the winter and seasonal depression... it's a fucked up combination.

My mom and I are having a good old time watching together today. I'm getting offset my depression with this kind of togetherness.🥹