My Thoughts On #PiecesOfAWoman 

Pieces of a Woman is a movie starring Vanessa Kirby (The Crown) as Martha and Shia LaBeouf (no introduction needed) as Sean, a husband and wife expecting their first child. They live in Boston and Sean is a construction worker building a bridge that he wants his daughter to be the first to walk on when it’s finished and Martha is an exec at a firm.

Martha goes into labor and they have decided to have a home birth. Their scheduled midwife is in another labor and a substitute is sent over. Martha is sick the entire labor and from the way it was shot, you just knew this wasn’t going to end well. The movie is about the aftermath of a tragic homebirth and the effects on everyone involved.

This movie should probably come with a trigger warning because it’s really dark and is sad but I liked it. It was stacked with talent with its leads and with Ellen Burstyn as Martha’s mother. She did a good job showing disdain for her son in law and not having a grasp on her daughter’s grief. One particular scene of hers is what I suspect will be her submission reel for award shows.

At first, I wasn’t sure about the pairing of LaBeouf and Kirby as a couple, but I am always still surprised when LaBeouf gets a grown man role. He may be trash as a human being but I really do think his demons help him be a good actor. He conveyed a recovering alcoholic mired in grief while watching his marriage crumble. I didn’t quite understand the blaccent being used though.

Kirby was a delight showing a woman really struggling with the loss of her child, not able to connect with her husband and warding off her overbearing mother. It’s like we could actually see her in pieces.

If you are looking for something heartwarming and light, this is definitely not it. The movie was loosely based on a true story as Kata Weber wrote the screenplay based on her own loss with the director of the movie. The Hungarian film industry rejecting this was a gain for us in America and adding Martin Scorcese as an executive producer was a nice touch. I recommend this movie and you can stream it on Netflix.