Pieces Of A Woman Review: 7 Ups & 3 Downs
Vanessa Kirby stuns in this searing melodrama.
2021 gets off to a storming start for Netflix and their slate of original movies, their first major offering being Pieces of a Woman, a film which has enjoyed persistent awards buzz ever since its Venice Film Festival premiere late last summer.
Vanessa Kirby - who won Venice's Volpi Cup for Best Actress for her performance - plays Martha Weiss, a woman whose life is turned upside down after the home birth of her daughter ends in tragedy.
It goes without saying that Pieces of a Woman couldn't be further from a feel-good film, and the grim realities of its drama may simply be too tough for audiences to contemplate watching in our beleaguered present.
But those who do watch will be rewarded with a deeply felt drama and a remarkable trio of central performances, two of which are already widely considered major Oscar contenders.
Awards season is obviously far from over given its two-month extension this year, but don't be surprised if the Best Actress field in particular is basically already sewn up.
Outside of the awards circus, though, on its own merits this is a delicately crafted, compulsively watchable, and boldly raw movie to kick off the year...