A good movie

The main reason why I wanted to check this movie was because it was directed by Sarah Polley and because there was such a stellar cast involved. However, since I kept hearing some pretty good things about this movie, I became even more eager to check it out. Well, to be honest, it turned out to be a movie which was equally fascinating and frustrating to behold. Indeed, when I heard about this movie, I became really intrigued by this story and read a detailed article about all the atrocities that took place at this ultraconservative Mennonite community located in Bolivia. However, this movie was not really about what happened before these men (or some of them) got caught or even what really happened when they got caught, instead, it turned out to be some kind of discussion these women, basically, the victims, might have had if you would have put them in a room for an extended period of time. However, such a meeting obviously never took place so it was all fiction. Even more problematic, at least to me, was the fact that such a group of women, basically illiterate, who were never allowed to think for themselves, would suddenly have such an elaborate even highly philosophical debate. Sure, it could be possible that one of them could have such conversation but all of them? To be honest, you might wonder if the women who went through these atrocities would recognize themselves in the portrayals given in this movie. Eventually, the whole thing was basically some kind of intellectual exercise but, even though I’m not sure if it was really the most interesting thing they could have done with such strong material, the end-result was still quite intriguing though. The top-notch cast (Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, Frances McDormand, Ben Whishaw) certainly did help as well. The idea of giving these poor women such an articulate voice and dialogue was also quite appealing and even emotional. Anyway, to conclude, even if I believe this movie is an acquired taste, it was still a really interesting watch and it is worth a look, especially if the concept appeals to you.