“Women Talking” could be shown at an anger-management session or Quaker Meeting House workshop.

“Women Talking” is nominated in the 2023 Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay.

There’s a lot of talking in “Women Talking.” That shouldn’t be surprising, given the movie’s title. Sometimes, as I watched “Women Talking,” I was wishing there was less talking.

During one of these moments, The Monkees’ song, “Daydream Believer,” is heard on the soundtrack, emanating from the loudspeaker of a pickup truck on a farm road. A voice on the loudspeaker asks the inhabitants of a Mennonite community to step outside their residences to be counted for the 2010 census.

“Daydream Believer” was a No. 1 hit for The Monkees in 1967. Maybe the man driving the truck likes oldies pop music.

The song took me right out of the film. You might be saying, or thinking, “OK Boomer.” I am still singing that earworm of a song in the jukebox of my mind.

The song, ”Daydream Believer,” is so upbeat, fizzy and mindless, that I found it to be antithetical to the subject matter of the film, “Women Talking,” which may have been the intent of the film-maker, director Sarah Polley, to include it.

“Women Talking” is based on a novel of the same title by Miriam Toews, who based it on her life in a Mennonite community in Canada. She left the community at age 18.

There was a real-life Mennonite community, the Manitoba Colony, in Bolivia, South America, that pertains to the fictionalized community in “Women Talking” and the film’s storyline. In 2009, a group of men were convicted of rape and sexual assault of more than 100 women and girls in the Manitoba Colony from 2005 - 2009. The women were drugged with animal anesthetic spray.

“Women Talking” is set in an unspecified northern clime. The scenes mostly take place in the hay loft of a barn where a group of women discuss and debate whether to stay in the colony, or take action in the form of revenge against the accused men, or leave the colony. A decision is made. No spoilers here. We won’t reveal what the women decide.

Sarah Polley (director, “Stories We Tell,” 2013; “Take This Waltz,” 2011; “Away From Her,” 2006) wrote the screenplay based on the book of the same title.

Polley has drawn superb performances from the cast. Polley uses contemplative framing of the actors, whose voices and facial expressions reveal the inner turmoil of the characters they portray.

Principal standouts among the cast include Rooney Mara (Ona), Claire Foy (Salome), Jessie Buckley (Mariche), Judith Ivey (Agata), Michelle McLeod (Mejal), August Winter (Melvin), Ben Whishaw (August) and Frances McDormand (“Scarface” Janz).

The cinematography by Luc Montpellier combines closeups of the characters’ faces with long panning shots of landscapes, all rendered in desaturated colors that tend toward grays and greens. The effect is that of a black and white film that has been tinted.

The soundtrack by Hildur Guðnadóttir (“Tár,” 2022; Oscar, music, “Joker,” 2019) is exceptionally involving, effectively evoking an overall sense of displacement and distress.

“Women Talking” is a troubling film about a troubling subject. Even more troubling is that the film is apparently based on actual events.

“Women Talking,”

MPAA Rated PG-13 (Parents Strongly Cautioned: Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. for mature thematic content including sexual assault, bloody images, and some strong language; Genre: Drama; Run time: 1 hour, 44 minutes. Distributed by United Artists Releasing.

Credit Readers Anonymous:

“Women Talking” was filmed in Ontario, Canada.

Theatrical Movie Domestic Box Office,

Feb. 10-12: “Magic Mike’s Last Dance” opened at No. 1 with $8.2 million in 1,500 theaters, knocking “Knock at the Cabin” from No. 1 to No. 5, dropping four places, with $5.5 million in 3,657 theaters, $23.4 million, two weeks, with “Avatar: The Way of Water” moving up one place to No. 2 with $6.8 million in 3,065 theaters, $646.9 million, nine weeks, as “Titanic: 25-Year Anniversary” re-release, opened at No. 3 with $6,4 million in 2,464 theaters, and “80 for Brady” dropped two places to No. 4 with $6 million in 3,939 theaters, $24.9 million, two weeks.

6. “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” dropped one place, $5.5 million in 3,227 theaters, $158.4 million, eight weeks. 7. “A Man Called Otto” dropped one place, $2.6 million in 2,824 theaters, $57.4 million, seven weeks. 8. ”Missing” stayed in place, $2.6 million in 2,315 theaters, $26.6 million, four weeks. 9. “M3GAN” dropped two places, $2.3 million in 2,508 theaters, $90.9 million, six weeks. 10. “Plane” moved up one place, $1.1 million in 1,679 theaters, $30.7 million, five weeks.

Movie box office information from Box Office Mojo as of Feb. 12 is subject to change.

Unreel,

Feb. 15:

“Marlowe,”

R: Neil Jordan directs Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger and Jessica Lange in the Crime Mystery Thriller. A detective is hired to locate the boyfriend of an heiress in the story set in the 1930s. Neeson plays Philip Marlowe, the character created by Raymond Chandler.

Unreel,

Feb. 17:

“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,”

PG-13: Peyton Reed directs Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michelle Pfeiffer, Michael Douglas and Bill Murray in the Action, Adventure, Comedy. Scott Lang and Hope Van Dyne head to the Quantum Realm. It’s the 31st film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

“Heart of a Champion,”

PG: Brad Keller directs Casper Van Dien, YaYa Gosselin and Edward Furlong in the Family Drama. A girl finds a lost horse and enters a barrel-racing contest.

“Devil’s Peak,”

No MPAA rating: Ben Young directs Robin Wright, Billy Bob Thornton and Jackie Earl Haley in the Crime Thriller. North Carolina, the Appalachian Mountains, and meth-dealing. What could possibly go wrong?

Movie opening date information from Internet Movie Database as of Feb. 12 is subject to change.

Three Popcorn Boxes out of Five Popcorn Boxes