I didn't even know this movie existed until I was looking through what was playing at my local theaters and saw that it had Elizabeth Banks in it. I like Elizabeth banks as an actor, and I thought the premise sounded interesting and relevant, so I decided to give it a chance, and boy do I regret that. It wasn't bad, per se. It was just too underwhelming to see in a theater, which is sad because Elizabeth Banks and Sigourney Weaver are great actors whose talent is mostly wasted in this film. It had two main problems. The first is that there really isn't any tension. Outside of the scene where Joy has her abortion, It lacked any kind of tension. You never felt like these women were ever in any real danger, even though they were. And even in the scene where the police officer shows up at joys house, it is kind of obvious that he isn't there to get her in trouble. My other main problem is that a lot of things are unclear, and the story is kind of all over the place. Like they are made at the male Doctor for charging 600 dollars a month. However, once Joy replaces him, they say the price is still the same. Why is that? Did the male Doctor just go willingly when they let him go? Couldn't he have made things really bad for them? And how did Joy's daughter figure out where her mom was? Lastly, it is clear that this is going to be divisive as abortion is one of the most heated topics in the US right now. Chances are, if you are pro-life, you aren't going to watch this movie. But even pro-choice individuals will find this a hard watch as it just says what they believe for two hours. Sadly, this movie doesn't really try to bridge the gap between the left and the right on this issue. Had the story and the characters been better developed, it might have gotten more people to reexamine and possibly challenge their beliefs on the issue. Honestly, a documentary would have been better, as I am sure many of the real women are still alive, and their stories would be super interesting. Or, if not a documentary, then just release this film to streaming because it was too underwhelming for theaters. And it is sad because in my state, abortion just became illegal with the overturning of roe v wade, and there will probably be more to follow. All in all, this was an okay movie, but it left me wanting more. If you can stream it, give it a watch. But don't pay to see it on the big screen.
