Review of Pieces of a Woman (2020) by Moviemitch96 — 07 Jan 2021
This poignant and tragic film stars Vanessa Kirby and Shia LaBeauf as a young couple reeling from tragedy following the events of their home birth gone wrong and the toll it takes on them and their relationship, as well as those around them.
Having been intrigued particularly by the cast, every actor involved manages to deliver a solid performance, with Kirby and LaBeauf in particular displaying heartbreaking performances. Also deserving of a mention is the always incredible Ellen Burstyn as Kirby's devastated mother.
Storywise, the film's opening act depicting the home birth is particularly harrowing, setting the tone for what's to come for much of the rest of the film, with the acting during this portion of the film in particular really hitting home the emotion and pain.
However, I wish I could say that the rest of the film had as strong and profound of an effect on me, as the film seemed to wander and lose its aim/sense of direction while being somewhat busy wallowing in grief and misery.
The film does manage to to turn things around slightly in the final 10 min or so by trying to give us a morality boost and the closest thing to a hopeful ending as we can get, but by then, it was mostly too little too late, and it simply didn't have as strong of an effect on me as I would've liked.
Overall, it's the solid performances that carry this film to the end, and while they do try to make up for the muted impact and wandering moods and tones on display here, it wasn't quite enough to make the film particularly memorable or stand out to me in too big a way.
This review of Pieces of a Woman (2020) was written by Moviemitch96 on 07 Jan 2021.
Pieces of a Woman has generally received positive reviews.
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