Pieces of a Woman

I'm not going to see all of this year's Oscar nominees. But I can try to squeeze some in before Sunday. The last feature I'll see on this year's lineup is the Netflix drama Pieces of a Woman. Let's see how it is.

Kata Weber adapted her stage play into the screenplay directed by her husband, Kornel Mundruczo. The titular woman is Martha (Vanessa Kirby), who's about to have her first baby. Her husband, Sean (Shia LaBeouf) is pretty excited. They decide to have a home birth with Barbara (we never see her) as the midwife. It all goes...

Anything but according to plan. When the moment comes, Barbara is busy, so she sends Eva (Molly Parker) as her replacement. The whole scene lasts twenty-four minutes and is photographed by Benjamin Loeb as a single take. What's the kicker? The baby girl dies within minutes of birth.

Martha struggles through her grief. Her friends and other family assure her that Eva "will rot in prison" for her alleged incompetence. Her mother, Elizabeth (Ellen Burstyn), is especially interested in seeing justice done. Meanwhile, Sean has an affair with Suzanne (Sarah Snook), Martha's cousin, and coincidentally, the prosecutor for the upcoming case against Eva (what happened to conflict of interest?). Will their marriage survive?

The film's central moment is its long and painful home birth. As I said, it's a twenty-four minute long take, which lets us see and feel the entire painful process. The only levity comes with Sean's groaner puns. Our insight lets us know who exactly is not responsible for the tragedy. That'll greatly effect one's ability to sympathize with much of the supporting cast. But then again, they're probably not you.

Let's talk about Kirby's Oscar-nominated performance. The film is about Martha struggling to comprehend the aftermath of the aforementioned scene. She starts off withdrawn and ends up assertive. She argues with her mother when the latter pushes her "to seek justice," says no to Sean's loutish behavior and ultimately forgives Eva in the courtroom. It's a strong performance all the way through.

The supporting cast is good. LaBeouf as Sean is a likable guy at first. That likability plummets when his grief-fueled loutishness worsens. He still realizes he's not a perfect man, which gets some points back. Burstyn as Elizabeth starts out as a domineering mother-in-law. But her argument with Martha shows she has her own grief to work through. Parker as Eva is perhaps the most sympathetic supporting character, but she has depressingly little screen time. Just that scene and the trial. Where's her side of the story?

Pieces of a Woman is ultimately not much of an endurance test. That one scene is tough but it's easy once you get through it. It helps that it resists the urge to explode into melodrama every scene. Its main character's arc is compelling. It all leads to a hopeful ending for her. See it on Netflix if you want. There's always the option to fast-forward.