Pieces Of A Woman Review: 7 Ups & 3 Downs

1. The Occasionally Overbearing Melodrama

Pieces of a Woman is at its core a classic melodrama, focused on an extremely traumatic event and the emotional fallout surrounding it.

But Kata Wéber's script also pads out the drama with a number of excessively soap opera-y flourishes, particularly where it pertains to the high-profile legal trial of Martha's midwife, Eve (Molly Parker).

Though it never deigns to feel like a Lifetime movie, the later courtroom drama elements often feel like they belong in another movie altogether, not to mention a brief subplot between Martha's mother Elizabeth (Ellen Burstyn) and Sean which feels a little too manufactured for its own good.

These elements certainly don't sink the film, though add a slushy aspect to a movie which would be all the better for more strictly training its focus on Martha and her torment. It gets the balance right for the most part, but again, some canny editing would've been to the film's undeniable benefit.

These flaws aside, Pieces of a Woman is an exceptional drama for many reasons. Here's what it gets right...