Doing exactly what it says on the tin and so much more, Women Talking focuses on a flock of frightened but resolute Mennonite women as they hurriedly debate the path they should take in the aftermath of abuse. Despite the group’s obliviousness to modern ways, the film’s outpouring of hurt and frustration and its desire for a better world perfectly encapsulates where we are as a society post Me Too. Inspired by real-life events and adapted from the 2018 novel of the same name by Miriam Toews, it’s the fourth feature from Canadian actress-turned-director Sarah Polley.

Fuelled by impassioned performances from a cast which includes Rooney Mara, Claire Foy and Jessie Buckley, the film is set in an isolated Mennonite colony whose womenfolk and girls as young as four have been drugged and raped by members of their own community. Following the arrest of the men in question, and anticipating their imminent return to the fold, the women gather to discuss whether to stay in the colony and resist the pressure to forgive and live side-by-side with their attackers, or leave the only place any of them has ever called home.

The subject matter might make it a desperately hard sell for audiences but Women Talking is not remotely the emotional slog it seems. As she was with 2008’s Away From Her, Polley has been Oscar-nominated for her screenplay here (the film is also up for Best Picture) and the writing is wonderful, as she rigorously covers the necessary thematic ground and finds room for humour and hope.

Unlike some issue-heavy films, the women are not simply mouthpieces for the contrasting viewpoints, instead they are fully formed characters who each respond differently to their ordeal, with Mara’s endearingly idiosyncratic Ona and an understandably furious Foy the stand-outs (producer Frances McDormand also features, as you may have spotted from the marketing, but she has a very small role). The visual choices are nicely judged too; from the austere, colour-drained palette to impactfully executed flashbacks, Polley brings things together masterfully and there’s plenty to take away.

Women Talking is in cinemas from Friday 10 February.