The World to Come (2020)
3.3 of 5 from 52 ratings
1h 38min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- In this powerful 19th century romance set in the American Northeast, Abigail (Katherine Waterston), a farmer's wife, and her new neighbor Tallie (Vanessa Kirby) find themselves irrevocably drawn to each other. A grieving Abigail tends to her withdrawn husband Dyer (Casey Affleck) as free-spirit Tallie bristles at the jealous control of her husband Finney (Christopher Abbott), when together their intimacy begins to fill a void in each other's lives they never knew existed. Directed by Mona Fastvold and scripted by Jim Shepard and Ron Hansen, 'The World to Come' explores how isolation is overcome by the intensity of human connection.
- Actors:
- Katherine Waterston, Vanessa Kirby, Casey Affleck, Christopher Abbott, Karina Ziana Gherasim, Ioachim Ciobanu, Daniel Blumberg, Andreea Vasile, Liana Navrot, Sandra Personnic-House, James Longshore
- Directors:
- Mona Fastvold
- Producers:
- Casey Affleck, Margarethe Baillou, David Hinojosa, Pamela Koffler, Whitaker Lader
- Writers:
- Ron Hansen, Jim Shepard
- Genres:
- Drama, Lesbian & Gay, Romance
More like The World to Come
Unavailable
Not released
Not released
Not released
Reviews (2) of The World to Come
Beautiful & Tragic Love Story - The World to Come review by GI
A tragic and passionate love story set in the wilds of the USA in the 1850s. With two wonderful central performances this is a film that is quite spellbinding. The cinematography beautifully captures the landscape and draws you into the harshness of the times, an element central to the story. This follows Abigail (Katherine Waterston), a stoic farmer's wife, both of whom are grieving after the death of their five year old daughter a year earlier. Abigail keeps a diary the entries of which, with a voice over narrative, allows her to share her thoughts and loneliness. Her husband (a nice underplayed performance from Casey Affleck) is caring but distant so Abigail devotes herself to the routines of their isolated life. When couple Finney (Christopher Abbott), a dour, unfeeling man and Tallie (Vanessa Kirby) , his beautiful and carefree wife rent a neighbouring farm Abigail is shocked by Tallie's attitudes to life and they begin to ignite hidden passions within one another. Kirby and Waterston are really remarkable in this restrained yet rather lovely film. The patriarchal and misogynistic elements of the times resonate with a contemporary view of relationships which here drives the story to tragedy but at the same time highlights that deeper feelings that, once set free, give life a true purpose. A delight and a film well worth checking out.
1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.
Subtly feminist historical tale - The World to Come review by PD
Mona Fastvold’s historical, slow-burning tale, set in NY State 1850s, is arresting for the great chemistry between Katherine's Waterson's Abigail and Vanessa Kirby's Tallie, but the feminist undercurrent comes over loud and clear. Enclosed on all sides by place, opportunity and circumstance, Abigail's journal begins 1 January 1856 much like any other day: her softly spoken, stoical narration starts with a sullen start to the New Year: 'Ice in our bedroom for the first time all winter,' the harsh weather of a remote northerly wilderness echoing a loveless marriage fallen on hard times. The colour drained from the screen and their lives, an overwhelming grief is buried beneath the daily toil of working the farm and dutifully maintaining their household’s meagre existence. The arrival of new neighbours injects a change, and with a flash of eye contact, and visions of Tallie's flowing red hair against the snow, ignites the faintest glimmer of passion in Abigail, but living on a 'long lane that has no turning,' we sense that both women are heading in exclusively one direction with no possibility of betterment or excitement. What begins as polite companionship and understanding moves to greater tenderness and caring – with subtle gesture and glances suggesting much more. It could be that this longing has always been there even before they met, or it could be that the women are drawn to one another due to the cold detachment of Dyer and callous brutality of Finney, but either way the attraction felt seems to come more from one soul’s draw by another, the magnetism of a kindred spirit, although Fastvold’s direction perhaps doesn't do quite enough to fully develop and explore this union. As the seasons come and go, in conjunction with a relationship developing behind closed doors, husbands speak of their wives accomplishing 'responsibilities', 'expectations and duties,' leaving us to ask whether there is there nothing more to this frontier existence than domestic subservience and bearing children? It's a 'modern' question of course, but the film successfully transports us back in time, and it makes a good case for an imaginative leap forward into literal and metaphorical new territory. In Abigail’s longing to see beyond the high valley walls with the kind of scope of an atlas gifted to her by Tallie, the film envisages a future reality not yet visible over the horizon, but shown as the slightest glimmer of light. Quietly impressive, even if the script doesn't match the power of the feelings on display.
0 out of 0 members found this review helpful.