Irish actress Jessie Buckley hopes her upcoming film, about a group of women in a religious colony struggling with their faith after a series of sexual assaults, inspires debate.
The American drama titled Women Talking, which stars Buckley alongside Claire Foy, Ben Whishaw and Frances McDormand, was written and directed by Sarah Polley.
Based on the novel by Miriam Toews, the film will show the group of women debating whether to stay in their remote Mennonite community and forgive their attackers or leave.
Arriving at the film’s UK premiere at the BFI London Film Festival, 32-year-old Buckley told the PA news agency: “I don’t think it is gender specific, it’s not just for women, I hope it’s not just for women.
“I think this is a conversation starter and something that can be debated and thought about again in 10 years’ time.
“I definitely feel like in the few festivals that we’ve gone to that this is just the beginning and actually what this film is about is really what it is about after it finishes and that’s really exciting.”
Speaking about working with the cast, which also included Rooney Mara and Judith Ivey, Olivier award-winning actress Buckley added: “It was great, it was amazing.
“We were so lucky, there was not one bad egg and when you’re dealing with this kind of material we just had a laugh.
“We’d come back to the room and natter and drink wine and have fun.”
Foy, who starred as Queen Elizabeth II in the first two seasons of The Crown, said working on the film was “magic” and in particular she praised writer turned director Polley.
She told PA: “I think I got sent it and it was in the height of lockdown and I met Sarah on zoom and she’s a really unique person in the sense that she’s incredibly generous and open and honest and willing to learn.
“I think a lot of directors are the complete opposite of that, tell you what they want, tell you what they need, try and force their opinion on you and she just wasn’t like that at all.
“Even the casting process that’s what she did, she was really thoughtful about who she put in her film, what she wanted the story to be, I just really trusted her and it translated to being on set.
“Everyone in that film the least important part of it was themselves and I think that is how Sarah feels about filming, she wants to get out of the way of it and I just knew that she was really special person to be around.”
Similarly Whishaw, who plays Q in the James Bond films, said he “adored” Polley and attributed her script to his involvement in the project.
“It was just incredibly moving and I felt like I’d never read anything like it before,” he told PA.
“It was challenging and beautiful and important, it was really very obvious from the minute I put it down that I wanted to do it.
“Although it is set in this quite closed religious community it’s speaking about being a woman, about freedom and about integrity, many things that we still are challenged by in the world today, all over the world.
“Given what the film is about and the kind of change that I feel the film is encouraging us to hope for, men have to be part of that discussion… it can’t be just for women and I don’t think it will be.”
Women Talking will be released in the UK on February 10.
