Pieces of a Woman is an emotional drama dealing with grief, loss, womanhood, and broken familial relations. This film is a devastating and realistic portrayal of people hurting each other after a tragic loss because they don’t know how to cope with loss and pain. Such a difficult topic, so authentically realized into cinematography.
The first 30 minutes of this movie are actually perfect. The filmmaking and performances are so powerfully done, making the opening scene really engaging. Even though I knew what was coming, I was just 'glued' to the screen throughout that entire long take. Truly never seen anything like it. The audience is experiencing everything with the characters as they experience it. Unfortunately after that, things fall off a bit, the film turns to a cliché family gathering and trial. Lots of the choices work really well, but it still felt like they went a little overboard with the melodrama.
Vanessa Kirby’s performance was just flawless. Shia’s, on the other hand, felt very... well, Shia. He was good but not very memorable and not different to how he has portrayed characters in many other films. I get that the movie focuses on the female side of grief, but I don’t know why they had to include the themes of sobriety and addiction. There was a half-hearted attempt to show an addict relapsing and then Shia LaBeouf's character was pushed aside and never returns. This felt unfinished.
This is very much an actor's showcase but aside from Vanessa Kirby, other actors don’t have much to work with. Even Ellen Burstyn is misused. I wanted to see more of how a mother is not able to help her daughter during such a difficult time. I also didn't really understand the importance of Sarah Snook's character. She basically played Shiv Roy 2.0. The story would have stayed exactly the same if she had been removed. The script just doesn’t take time to explore the different characters.
Pieces of a Woman really doesn't bring anything to the table apart from the acting and directing. But it's certainly a gripping drama. Not a lot of movies portray such an intimate perspective of grief like this one.
“She smelt like an apple”.
Man, what a movie.
Please avoid reading up any synopsis for this movie and instead go in blind if you can. However, I must warn you that this movie is a hard pill to swallow, in terms of its subject matter. Without spoiling anything, the movie is about grief and how that can affect a person and a relationship. It may be distressing for some and may leave you feeling blue, but it’s so powerful you won’t forget it. Worth seeing just for the directing, acting, and story.
I wasn’t prepared for it and I think you shouldn’t be too.
The movie begins with a stressful and devastating 30-minute-long scene that perfectly sets up the tone for the movie. It’s very rare for me to say “oh sh*t!” out load while watching a movie. People have said that the movie quickly deflates after that, but I don’t agree. After something as huge as that opening, the rest takes a much slower pace that effectively allows the audience to examine closely on the characters during the worst period of their lives.
Vanessa Kirby delivers a performance that I would describe as haunting. Out of all the performances I’ve seen from her (so far), this is by far her best, as this movie really showcases her range as an actor. She really sank her teeth into the role and every bit of emotion she conveyed throughout the movie, loud or quiet, was incredibly believable. From her role as Princess Margaret in the hit TV show ‘The Crown’ and now this movie, I can safely say I’m a fan of Vanessa Kirby.
The rest of the supporting cast were all equally terrific. Shia LaBeouf, despite being a controversial figure recently, also delivers a fantastic performance. It was more grounded and less showy than his other roles. Ellen Burstyn is an amazing actor, and this movie reminds us of that. The scenes between her and Kirby were the highlights of the movie. One scene reminded of Burstyn’s heart-breaking monologue from ‘Requiem for a Dream’. Just from her facial expressions alone, the sadness and the worry, have implanted itself into my head.
The cinematography from Benjamin Loeb is really well shot and the camera work is almost like a character itself. There are plenty of long takes throughout the movie as the camera would sometimes flow between or around the characters, which made the scenes feel personal and real.
My only issue with the was the score from Howard Shore as I felt it was lacking in some scenes. At times I didn’t think music was really needed for certain scenes. Not a terrible score by any means, but very disappointing and nothing special. And that’s really it for issues.
Overall rating: ‘Pieces of a Woman’ is a beautiful character-driven story that emotionally wrecked me. A hard movie to recommend for obvious reasons. It’s a challenging movie that demands your patience as the story steadily moves along the emotional turmoil. It doesn’t hold anything back when it comes to presenting the honest truth of its subject matter, but I think that’s what made it so powerful for me. Difficult to watch, but I believe that’s the point.
A movie that plays on my emotions when I wanted a movie that plays on my love of good movies.
Ok i like the movie,but why no one cares about the father pain? Is like nobody gives a shit about the father pain.
Only the mother suffers? What about the father's pain? the film leans a lot towards her, forgetting that the father suffered and lost too
It's slow but very well acted. A decent, sad, depressing art house film that I never want to see again.
My Ratings
10 - I love it, regardless of quality
9 - Very good, might not love but very well done or might love, forgiving some issues
8 - Very enjoyable or Just OK for me but well done
7 - Good
6 - Watchable despite not liking the film/show
5 - Mid
3-4 - Not great, but got through it
1-2 - Very bad/You might be a communist if you like this garbage
The movie was okayish with a great ending. Tbh, I thought she was saving the apple seeds because having a lot of em can kill you (right?) but this was a more wholesome ending lol.
I gotta say though: Shia's crying felt really fake and awkward to watch.
Besides from that the performances were phenomenal; I just felt like some parts were moving a bit slow.
[Netflix] When the director and actresses work together, the film achieves a heartbreaking emotional height. This is what happens in the initial scene of labor, a tense, moving, absorbing moment. But when the script takes center stage, the emotional charge is blurred into obvious symbologies, banal references and unnecessary characters (especially, the male ones, drowned out by stereotypes). Fortunately, Vanessa Kirby and Ellen Burstyn's performances are superb.
A frustrating watch, mostly because a couple of poor choices make this film way worse than it should be.
It probably will get nominated for best acting, and that’s well deserved, as the two leads are excellent.
A lot has been said about the first thirty minutes, and while I agree that it’s a great showcase for the director and Vanessa Kirby, it’s a scene that didn’t need to be there, let alone be thirty minutes.
Why? Well, it’s dramatically unengaging, nothing interesting or extraordinary happens until the last two minutes, and as a result it tanks the pacing of the rest of the film.
Setting that scene aside, the film quickly develops into a sufficient, albeit fairly predictable drama.
I think it would’ve been creatively more interesting to focus on the conflict of grieving internally vs our human need for blaming someone, which is only briefly explored in the scenes with Ellen Burstyn.
This whole family grievance plot has been done to death, and the film fails to find a unique angle on it.
As for the characters, they do have arcs, but it should’ve been handled more efficiently.
Dramatically, it would’ve been so much interesting to delve a little more into the characters before the thirty minute scene, so that we’d have a good sense of who these people are before they get depressed.
All in all, it feels like a film that should’ve had a few more revisions during preproduction.
4/10
It was OK. Took quite a while to get going and then nothing really happened. Basically it is a 2 hour movie of watching a family at it's happiest and just slowly break apart.
Had the entire movie been as captivating and beautiful as the first 30 minutes, it would have earned a 10/10 from me.
como actúa vanessa kirby por dioooos!! :heart::pray::pray:
First 30 minutes, that insane birth scene: incredible. Everything after that failed on every level, but the first 30 minutes was pretty memorable.
The performances in this film, especially by Vanessa Kirby and Ellen Burstyn, are a masterclass in acting. The emotional intensity of the subject matter is relentless and exhausting. Ellen Burstyn has a monologue that will never leave you. Despite the 10 out of 10 performances, this is not a movie I would watch twice and, indeed, I was hesitant to get lost in it the first time as I knew it would be an emotional marathon. Not an easy watch. On the balance, I give this film a 7 (good) out of 10. [Drama]
Exceptional acting, writing and cinematography. Generally a plot line that wouldn't be in my must watch list but it was very impressive anyways.
Except from first scene and the way it was directed this movie was meh..5.5/10
A powerful piece of filmmaking with a standout turn from Kirby at the core. Difficult to watch at times due to its subject matter but its still a film to be commended.
«There might be a reason for what happened, but we are not gonna find it in this room. And if I stand here and ask for compensation or money, then I’m.. I’m saying that I can be compensated, and I can’t. I can’t bring her back. No money or verdicts or sentences can... How Can I give this pain to someone else? Someone who’s already suffered?».
—
«Forse c’è una ragione per quello che è successo, ma in quest’aula non la troveremo. E se io venissi qui e chiedessi un risarcimento o dei soldi, allora sarebbe come a dire che posso essere ricompensata, e non è vero. Non posso riportarla in vita. Nessuna somma, verdetto o sentenza può... Come potrei dare questo dolore a qualcun altro? Qualcuno che ha già sofferto?».
I think in and of themselves the performances were good and the story was good but things seemed disjointed to me. It was almost like there were 3 different stories being presented though that’s not how the director presented it so, ya, it was good but needed connectedness.
I think the end was a little weak but man, what a movie! A bit shocking, maybe dark. I liked it.
Shout by Tyberious CalhounBlockedParent2021-01-09T19:46:39Z
The acting by Vanessa Kirby was amazing! I think she really captures the grief of a parent really well. I think the film does a good part in showing that people grieve in different ways, and that can cause people to drift away from each other. I would've liked Shia LaBeouf's character fleshed out more, but I understand this is supposed to be the mom's story for the most part. I think the film takes a detour with the final climax towards the end, but overall pretty good.