Vanessa Kirby returns to our screens on Jan. 7 on Netflix with
another gut-wrenching Netflix melodrama “The pieces of a woman” and
this time she does something extraordinary and unique than ever! She evokes
deep emotions in us with her character, who experiences a devastating loss yet
makes her feelings unreadable or inconsolable for those close to her such as her partner Sean (Shia LaBeouf), who can barely control his own emotions, and even for a
snoopy family friend who embraces her in the supermarket and assures that
justice will be served.
Even before facing the loss, Martha isn’t expressive at all.
Viewers first meet Martha (Vanessa Kirby’s role) on the last day of her office
in Boston before she takes maternity leaves. She seems like a confident woman
who decides to deliver her baby at home – something that turns into a tragedy.
The first half-hour of “Pieces of a Woman” is
loaded with emotionally roiling and staggering sequence, which we recommend you
do not read further in case you want to experience it with your own eyes. The
devastating scene that drives the entire movie isn’t really hard to predict; it’s
exactly what you expect from a movie based on an expectant mother who is about
to shatter into pieces, as what the title suggests.
Martha, whose will is to deliver her baby at home, goes into
labor on the same day when her scheduled midwife is busy with another delivery.
Eva (played by Molly Parker) appears at their home with smiles and reassurances
that she will handle the delivery all well.
What follows next is a 25-minutes real-time sequence of an
astonishing portrayal of delivery-at-home gone wrong with gruesome details. Kirby’s
performance hits right on the spot as a woman enduring excruciating pain at the
time of delivery; she screams, grunts and sighs; at one point her agonizing
pain give away a strange clam before unspeakable happens…
It’s the sort of
performance that critics love to describe as a master class – Vanessa Kirby
proves to be the rising Best actress of the Hollywood.
Imagine all the great performance of actors dying on the
camera, but nothing gives the same amount of chills than seeing Kirby giving
birth before our eyes in “Pieces of a woman.”
In fact, nothing in the rest of the movie elicits the same
impact as this 25-minute long sequence! Something really goes wrong in this
sequence, which turns their well-ordered happy life into a long tragedy.
We often say that it takes a village to raise a child, but
this movie portrays how an entire city makes sure that the child is laid to
rest peacefully. The entire Boston blames Eva for the child’s death, while
Martha simply wants that was snatched away from her: her marriage and daughter.
Kirby’s Martha speaks volume to all those mothers who are
experiencing the grief of their still-born child. Some are even claiming that
Vanessa’s character is a warning to today’s women to never opt for
delivery-at-home option. In fact, some mothers took to twitter and recalled
their own experiences of child birth after watching the movie:
Watched a movie on Netflix, “Pieces of A woman.” I learnt 3 Lessons:
1. we must allow time to heal our wounds.
2. There’s a grief process, let that process take its course.
3. In the pursuit of peace, those who you’re holding on tightly to, maybe those you NEED to let go of.
— Ìfẹ́ (@diaryofa9jagirl) January 8, 2021
Watching “Pieces of a woman” on Netflix, I’m sad already 😢😢to carry a baby for 9 months and not be able to spend the rest of your life with him/her is just devastating
— 🥀Ashley Michelle🥀 (@Michelle1321_) January 7, 2021
@VanessaKirby gives a powerful portrayal of a grieved mother following SIDS in ‘Pieces of a Woman’. Skillfully shining light on a topic usually not discussed. Sensitively done. Well done.
— cg (@76ccg) January 7, 2021
Not a lot of films portray such an intimate perspective of grief like Pieces Of A Woman. The film is an whirldwind of feelings. It’s a close look on griefing and how people deal with it in different ways. But it shows especially how the mother feels.
— best of vanessa kirby (@badpostkirby) January 7, 2021
Saw trailer for “pieces of a woman” and looked up synopsis.
It’s bizarre because this is exactly what happened to my mother when I was born, with the difference that I obviously (fortunately) lived.
We genuinely should’ve pressed charges but you didn’t do that back then.
— ✨Linn ✨ (@Araayne) January 7, 2021
Currently watching (just started) Pieces of a Woman….and as a mother who’s been through four labors and delivery, Kirby is bringing me back some memories. Wow! 😳 #TIFF20 #FilmTwitter
— Rosa #LatinxLens (@rosasreviews) September 14, 2020
Taking on a kind of grief that only mothers can experience, “Pieces
of a women” questions the essence of womanhood when all is left is blood
and nothing else… The movie was premed
on 7th January on Netflix, do give it a watch!
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upcoming content.