In the early 1910s, Maud Watts (Carey Mulligan) is a laundress literally kept down by the Man. Her boss is a chauvinist pig, her husband is a dullard, and her son is a polite young boy. Meanwhile, the Women's Suffrage movement is taking shape, and some of its members take up property damage for their cause. When the Man decides to consider a voting rights bill for women, Maud reluctantly ends up testifying. The Man says No to Suffrage and Maud gets arrested by the brutish police.
Maud ends up joining the Women's Suffrage Movement for real. Her closest friends are Dr. Edith Ellyn (Helena Bonham-Carter) and Emily Davison (Natalie Press). The revered head of the Suffrage Movement, Emmeline Pankhurst, advocates militant action for Women's Rights. But a few members, including Maud, have some doubts. There's also a Police Inspector, Steed (Brendan Gleeson), who's out to stop them.
The screenplay by Abi Morgan was realized by director Sarah Gavron. It focuses on the story of several fictional characters, with Davison and Pankhurst being the most major exceptions. There are a few typical character types, but they're all played admirably well. It's satisfying to see Maud go from a mousy reluctant heroine to a more assertive heroine who smashes her employer's hand with a still hot iron!
The story has hints of cliche as well. One character has a weak heart and may die if she goes to one last protest. Does this affect her? No; her sympathetic husband locks her in the bathroom. Why bring up the plot point at all?
The technical efforts are fine, but not perfect. Barney Pilling's cinematography captures old dusty London well, but when scenes get intense, it shakes a lot. To make matters worse, the editing snaps by fast. We can't really keep track of what's going on when it does that. Alexandre Desplat's score is fine, but it sounds too typical of his style (The Grand Budapest Hotel being atypical). The Production and Costume design evoke the period admirably, so they get some points.
I find it amusing that Pankhurst, the revered head of the Suffrage Movement, is played by Meryl Streep. Her part is a one-scene cameo where she addresses her supporters. The real Pankhurst died in 1928, the year the British Suffragette movement finally succeeded. That would be a good end point for another movie.
This movie, meanwhile, ends too early. Suffragette ends in 1913, and its epilogue tells us how the Suffragette movement progressed from there. It would be nice if we saw a bit more of it. The story needs to be told, and hopefully, it will be told a bit better next time.
This movie, meanwhile, ends too early. Suffragette ends in 1913, and its epilogue tells us how the Suffragette movement progressed from there. It would be nice if we saw a bit more of it. The story needs to be told, and hopefully, it will be told a bit better next time.
UPDATED 1/14/2025: I felt I was too negative with this review; don't ask me why it took this long to fix it.
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