Review of Suffragette (2015) by Matt C — 19 Mar 2018

When a "prestigious" picture opens in late October to late December, the chances are that it's vying for Oscar nominations. Most of them happen to be good, but some are average with their awards intentions worn on their sleeves.

Unfortunately, Suffragette falls into the latter category. While far from a bad movie and not even cynical or quite below average, it's rather apparent that this movie finds it sufficient to go through the Oscar-bait motions in order to create a prestigious film.

Despite having in its intentions in the right area and consistent tone and pacing, Suffragette eventually falls victim to its by-the-motions script and direction, resulting in a watchable movie that ends up having no real emotional pull.

Given that this movie didn't have much buzz, I went in with muted expectations. I was hoping for a feminist equivalent of something like Selma, but was left with something that felt more inclined to put the pieces in front of the audience and not really bother to delve deeply into them.

All of the acting is good, namely Carey Mulligan in the lead role. She plays a likable protagonist with an interesting character arc, but the film runs surface-deep, disallowing a real exploration into her suppression as a woman.

Helena Bonham Carter does good work, as does Meryl Streep in her single two-minute scene--how's that for Oscar-baiting--but again, the characters either aren't written well enough or given enough time for their arc to develop for the audience.

One character has a pivotal role, but she's such a minor character that her contributions to the suffragette movement have no real effect, ultimately undermining the climax of the film. It sometimes felt as if the camera operators were trying the most to scratch the surface given how oddly shaky the close-ups are throughout the film.

The movie does, however, manage to somehow have an effective end credits sequence using title cards. If they could do that, why didn't the filmmakers make more use of the actual movie. Show, don't tell, please.

So although Suffragette is a timely movie with solid pacing and consistent and no issues regarding its production values, it still doesn't have the effect that the filmmakers intended. Its performances are never less than good and the only lacking technical quality of the movie is its shaky close-ups, but its script's inability to balance its protagonist with its supporting characters prevents the movie from actually having a pay-off.

Just because a film has socially relatable themes doesn't mean that it's successful by default. Explore the characters, their impacts, and the politics of the situation--don't just use a formula and feed off of the audience's innate sympathy.

Make me feel different than when I walked into the theater. 6/10, okay, one thumb down, average, etc.