Pieces of a Woman (2020)

When a young mother's home birth ends in unfathomable tragedy, she begins a year-long odyssey of mourning that fractures relationships with loved ones in this deeply personal story of a woman learning to live alongside her loss.

Director:

Kornél Mundruczó

Writer:

Kata Wéber

Stars:

Vanessa Kirby, Shia LaBeouf, Ellen Burstyn

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 5 wins & 46 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Vanessa Kirby	...	Martha
Shia LaBeouf	...	Sean
Ellen Burstyn	...	Elizabeth
Iliza Shlesinger	...	Anita
Benny Safdie	...	Chris
Sarah Snook	...	Suzanne
Molly Parker	...	Eva
Steven McCarthy	...	Photographer
Tyrone Benskin	...	Judge
Frank Schorpion	...	Lane
Harry Standjofski	...	Court Clerk
Domenic Di Rosa	...	Medical Examiner
Jimmie Fails	...	Max
Juliette Casagrande	...	Little Girl
Gayle Garfinkle	...	Judith

Storyline

Martha and Sean are a Boston couple on the verge of parenthood whose lives change irrevocably when a home birth ends in unimaginable tragedy. Thus begins a yearlong odyssey for Martha, who must navigate her grief while working through fractious relationships with her husband and her domineering mother, along with the publicly vilified midwife, whom she must face in court. A deeply personal, searing, and ultimately transcendent story of a woman learning to live alongside her loss.

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Plot Keywords:

female frontal nudity | female nudity | male frontal nudity | child birth | long take | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, sexual content, graphic nudity and brief drug use

Did You Know?

Trivia

Despite featuring one of the longest delivery scenes ever in film, director Kornél Mundruczó stated that they still sort-of cheated reality by squeezing the entire emotional rollercoaster of a 10-12 hour delivery into a 23-minute scene.

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Goofs

When Sean sees a painting on the wall of Suzanne's office, he claims that it's the Tacoma Bridge. That is a painting of the Bosphorus Bridge, which is in Istanbul, Turkey. It can be easily distinguished from the mosque next to it.

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Quotes

Judge: Yes, how did you feel holding your baby you had just given birth to?
Lane: She smelled like an apple.

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Crazy Credits

The title appears around the 30-minute mark.

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Connections

Featured in Chris Stuckmann Quick Movie Reviews: TIFF 2020: Pieces of a Woman, One Night in Miami, Nomadland (2020)

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Soundtracks

Untitled #3
Written by Orri P. Dyrason (as Orri Pall Dyrason), Kjartan Sveinsson, Jon Thor Birgisson, Georg Holm
Performed by Sigur Rós
Courtesy of Krunk Records/ADA UK
By arrangement with ADA Licensing, a division of Warner Music Group Film & TV Licensing

User Reviews

Good but not great

Overall, this movie is pretty decent. I have to say that I expected a bit more but in the end I wasn't really disappointed. Vanessa Kirby and Shia LaBeouf were both great but there were moments in both of their performances that were just a little bit off. The highlight of the film has got to be its opening scene which is about 27 minutes long. This scene was absolutely incredible and highly salute them for their work. After that the movie goes up and down over and over again. It's meant to be sad and heartbreaking but I just didn't REALLY feel that when I was watching.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Canada Hungary USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 January 2021 (USA)

Also Known As:

Pieces of a Woman

Filming Locations:

Montreal, Québec, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

BRON Studios, Creative Wealth Media Finance, Little Lamb

Technical Specs

Runtime:

126 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1