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The first trailer for the star-studded upcoming drama, Women Talking, premiered Monday.
The Sarah Polley-directed film — based on Miriam Toews’ 2018 novel of the same name — follows the true story of men drugging and raping women in a Mennonite colony.
One chilling scene sees Claire Foy, 38 of the Crown, who plays Salome, saying to a group of women, ‘We know we couldn’t have imagined these attacks. We know we’re bruised and terrified” before she is screamed and dragged away by two men.
First Look: The first trailer for the upcoming drama, Women Talking, premiered Monday. The film stars Claire Foy and Rooney Mara as they try to escape the violence in their religious community
In addition to Foy, the incredible cast also includes Rooney Mara, Jessie Buckley, Judith Ivey, Frances McDormand and Ben Whishaw.
The trailer opens with Mara, 37, who stars as Ona and ominously asks, “Why does love, the absence of love, the end of love, the need for love… lead to so much violence?”
The scene then changes to little girls playing on a field, as Kate Hallett, who stars as Autje, recounts, “It was all waiting to happen, before it happened.”
Fighting: Foy, 38, tells a group of women, “We know we couldn’t have imagined these attacks. We know we’re bruised and terrified,” before she is dragged away screaming by two men.
Violence: The trailer opens with Mara, 37, who stars as Ona, and ominously asks, “Why does love, the absence of love, the end of love, the need for love… result in so much violence?”
“You could look back and follow the breadcrumbs along the path that led to violence,” she continues, as we see a mother hugging her daughter.
“Looking back, it would have been everywhere,” she says, as the camera takes several shots of the colony.
Frances McDormand, 65, who plays Scarface Janz in the film, then says, “It’s part of our faith to forgive.”
Community dynamics: Kate Hallett, who stars as Autje, goes on to say, “You could look back and follow the breadcrumbs along the path that led to violence”
Chilling: “Looking back, it would have been everywhere,” she says, as the camera pans to several shots of the colony
“If we don’t forgive these men, we will be forced to leave the colonies,” she adds as she talks to a group of women.
Then we hear Mariche, played by Jessie Buckley, say, “None of you will listen to reason.”
The scene then moves to Ona, who proclaims, “We can’t bear any more violence.”
Star-studded: In another scene, Frances McDormand, who plays Scarface Janz in the film, says: ‘It’s part of our faith to forgive’
Dilemma: ‘We will be forced to leave the colonies if we don’t forgive these men,’ she adds as she talks to a group of women
Another approach: Meanwhile, Agata, played by Judith Ivey, adds, “We’ve been prayed to like animals. Maybe we should react like animals’
Key question: Mara says at the end of the trailer: ‘Once we’ve freed ourselves, we’ll have to ask ourselves who we are’
Agata, played by Judith Ivey, adds, “We’ve been prayed to like animals. Perhaps we should react like beasts when a woman slams against a barn door with a sickle.
The next scene shows close-up of children’s and women’s faces as Ona asks, “How would you feel if in your entire life it never mattered what you thought?”
At the end of the trailer, she says, “Once we’ve freed ourselves, we’ll have to ask ourselves who we are.”
Women Talking had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival 2022 and was subsequently screened at TIFF and the New York Film Festival. The film will hit theaters on December 2, 2022.
Coming in December: Women Talking will be released in theaters on December 2, 2022