Women Talking (15)
Directed by Sarah Polley
★★★★

EITHER: do nothing, stay and fight, or leave. Those are the options faced by a group of women in a remote Mennonite community after they discover they are being systematically abused while they sleep in this electrifying drama.

They awake battered and bruised and sometimes pregnant but the colony’s religious leaders dismiss their concerns as imaginary, or the work of Satan.

Set in 2010 this double-Oscar-nominated film directed by Sarah Polley is based on Miriam Toews’ 2018 novel of the same name which she adapted for the big screen.

It was inspired by the real-life story of a group of Mennonite women in Bolivia who were drugged and raped by men in their community.

Featuring a stellar cast that includes Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, Rooney Mara and Frances McDormand, Polley delivers a powerful, heart-in-your-mouth film that arouses your anger.

It is a race against time as the women have only two days to decide what action to take before their rapists, one of whom was caught in the act, are released from custody.

Set mostly in a barn, the film feels like you are watching a play, but the ensemble cast give powerhouse performances, especially Foy and Buckley, as they deliver heart-wrenching speeches.

Despite their illiteracy each woman expresses a different point of view with eloquence and emotion as they debate whether they should stay and forgive their attackers as is expected of them if they wish to enter heaven. Foy’s character wants to stay and murder the man who attacked her four-year-old daughter.

Although it is a film about violence, no violence occurs. This film of women talking about reclaiming their power, autonomy over their bodies and breaking free from male and religious subjugation, will resonate universally.

MD
In cinemas from today.

Blue Jean (15)
Directed by Georgia Oakley
★★★★

SET in 1988, the reality and impact of Margaret Thatcher’s controversial Clause 28 is seen through the eyes of a closeted PE teacher whose life and identity are upended by it.

Writer-director Georgia Oakley’s powerful and soulful debut drama is anchored by Rosy McEwen’s mesmerising performance as Jean, who is pushed to the brink when the arrival of a new student Lois (Lucy Halliday) threatens to expose her sexuality.

Jean leads a double life. By day she teaches, while at night she frequents a local lesbian bar with her friends and her girlfriend Viv (Kerrie Hayes), and never the twain shall meet. Until Lois turns up at the same bar.

Oakley paints an intimate portrait and character study of a woman in turmoil and the pressures she faces on all sides, and especially from her lover, but she is too scared for fear of losing her career and her job.

The film is a reminder of the legacy of Section 28 and its malign effects that still resonate in countless lives today.

MD
In cinemas from today.

Nothing Lasts Forever (12)
Directed by Jason Kohn
★★★★

FILM-MAKER Jason Kohn takes the shine out of the diamond industry as he uncovers a secret war raging within it and a crime that will devalue a precious and coveted stone in this sparkling and fascinating documentary.

This is the unknown battle between synthetic diamonds and natural diamonds. Kohn goes undercover to unearth how entrenched it is. An open secret within the business, no-one else seems aware of it.

Kohn interviews a range of colourful experts from those that manufacture synthetic gems, those that set the world price for the real mccoy, to those like De Beers who mine and sell them.

The one who steals the film and debunks the myth about diamonds is jewellery designer Aja Raden who doesn’t hold back in her views on De Beers which she claims has sold us this romantic dream of owning a diamond ring, and a happy-ever-after.

Shockingly the film shows how synthetic diamonds have been mixed with real ones and it is impossible to tell them apart.

This is an extraordinary and gripping film about greed, elitism and diamond snobbery, which will make you revalue your gems.

MD
In cinemas from today.

Town of Strangers (12A)
Directed by Treasa O’Brien
★★★

SET in Gort in the west of Ireland, director Treasa O’Brien holds open auditions for would be actors and ordinary people to appear in her new film which is an imaginative work in progress.

O’Brien lives in a camper van and interviews a whole range of people in the town hall, including migrant workers, hippies, travellers and refugees, and asks them to describe their dreams and what home means to them.

It is a slow-burning film that reels you in carefully as it reveals itself both to O’Brien and the audience frame by frame.

You cannot help but be compelled by these strangers and their life stories, and also O’Brien herself who becomes part of this surreal documentary that explores both immigration and austerity in a unique and refreshing way.

MD
In cinemas from today.