Netflix has made a very concerted effort recently to establish itself as a legitimate studio. Over the past couple of years, they have gathered big-name directors and actors who have decided to release their award’s movies on their service. This year especially with filmmakers like David Fincher and Spike Lee on their service. Pieces of a Woman seems ripe on the surface for an award’s type of film. Is it worthy of that potential? Unfortunately not, while a worthwhile story, the film never manages to grab you the way it thinks it is and just falls flat as a result.
Pieces of a Woman stars Vanessa Kirby as Martha, a woman who is ready to have a child any day now. The birth unexpectedly comes and she is forced to have an in-home birth in order to get the child out. The child, unfortunately, comes out without enough oxygen and passes away. With the weight of this awful situation coming down on her, Martha must grip with the realities of moving on and accepting the loss. On the surface, this is a heavy subject matter. The consequences are real and really reflect what someone in this situation would go through had they experienced this. The problem is that the film thinks it is a lot more profound than it actually is. Meaning, it feels like it has a ton to say, it just doesn’t know how to clearly say it. It feels like a film from someone who has a lot of ideas and just threw them all in it. The techniques and visuals of it are all great, but it is so wrapped up in its style that it forgets to properly articulate and to entertain. I can be wowed by camera movements and lighting all day long, but if your story doesn’t grab me, then it all feels like a waste.
That is not to say this film is a complete waste. The techniques used to tell the story are a delight to look at. There is a nearly 20-minute long sequence at the beginning of this film where the camera doesn’t stop. It is during the most heartbreaking moment where the child is born and the way this shot is constructed so beautifully captures the manic and chaos of an event like that. There are so many moving parts going on at once and if even one of them feels off, the entire thing is thrown out of balance. The subject material is heavy, and I wouldn’t be human if it didn’t affect me in some way, it just feels like there should’ve been more. I was expecting this movie to absolutely wreck me and instead, I barely thought about it once the credits rolled. When you have a heavy drama like this, it is paramount for it to hold your attention. I’m watching a film about a woman who is trying to cope with loss while other factors around her are keeping her from being happy. Her family being controlling, a crumbling marriage, and a court case all contribute. So why was I so bored?
What saves this movie from being subpar is the acting, particularly from its star Vanessa Kirby. Vanessa is known mostly for shows like The Crown and action roles in Mission Impossible: Fallout and Hobbs and Shaw. To finally see her take such a massive dramatic turn is something I think we were all waiting for and she completely delivers. This is one of those announcing yourself to the world type of performances where people turn heads and have their attention grabbed. You see the pain and tear on Martha’s face and you feel just how cutoff she is because Vanessa Kirby displays that grief so well. Going into festivals, there was already talk about awards for her and now having seen the film, those talks were absolutely justified. The other performances from Shia LaBeouf and Ellen Burstyn are fantastic as well, but walking out of this film, Kirby is the person to talk about. Should she win best actress awards, which feels very much likely, they would be completely justified. If she doesn’t at least get a nomination, there is something seriously wrong with film, in general.
At the end of the day, Pieces of a Woman isn’t a complete wash. It has stuff to write home about and worth celebrating, but it all feels less than. It is not as elegant as it thinks it is, and that is a loss for what the film could’ve been. Vanessa Kirby should get the respect she deserves, but that’s all we need to talk about with this film
Final Word