The World to Come
In 1856, two women forge a close connection despite their isolation on the American frontier.
- Released: 2021-02-12
- Runtime: 105 minutes
- Genre: Drama, Romance, Western
- Stars: Katherine Waterston, Casey Affleck, Vanessa Kirby, Christopher Abbott, Kim Ciobanu, Daniel Blumberg, Andreea Vasile, James Longshore
- Director: Mona Fastvold
Comments
- pearlywurly - 26 November 2023
Self-serving self-important story
This movie is not about the forbidden love between two women in 1850s America. It is about two women cheating on and alienating their husbands, committing adultery, and breaking the vows of marriage. Is it justified just because the two women discovered they are lesbians and therefore should be allowed to love whomever they want? At least one of the husbands was devoted and hardworking. Did he deserve to have a wife that emotionally and physically rejects him?
The visuals and acting were good. Sadly they were wasted on a self-important story, and sadly I've wasted 2 hours of my time watching it. - summersun-93200 - 6 September 2022
Stars deducted for the tropes
Rating this film is challenging. As a queer person, I've seen so many unnecessary deaths of queer characters in otherwise excellent films, and I think we'd quite like to see some happy endings for a change. Then again, since the writers and director of the film all appear to be straight, maybe they thought a romantic drama with an unhappy ending was refreshing in between all the happily ever afters the straight population is provided with, left and right. I assume bury your gays is a trope only "the gays" understand.
That being said, I loved the subtle poetic way the story of the love between these two women unfolds. This is a harsh, cold environment, but in eachother Abigail and Tallie find the beauty, kindness and comfort they were missing. Their growing love is evident in their gazes, smiles and touches, and the chemistry is palpable. Why the director chose to hide the passionate affair in hair stroking and a few embraces, only to reveal just how corporal their love was in a blink or you'll miss it montage after Tallie was already dead, is a conundrum. After the numerous explicit scenes of straight sex in most romantic films I've watched, that was unfortunate - especially when we did get to see a scene between Abigail and her husband. But oh well.
I gave the 8 stars, but how about the next beautiful poetic drama with lesbians, just let them live and find happiness despite the hardships. There are numerous excellent novels to find inspiration from, some written by actual queer women. - joachimokeefe - 13 March 2022
Fairly convincing; better than most postmodern Westerns
Filmed in Romania, it would seem: 17 years after Brokeback Mountain, two antebellum Appalacian (??) farmers' wives discover the only joy in their lives to be the dream of what might now be called a lesbian partnership.
TWTC is a bit slow to start with, there's a lot of 'this is what people had to put up with in 1856', but there's also a lot of atmosphere and earnest authenticity. The male characters come off extremely badly, which is no more than they deserve, I guess.
The balance between joy and misery is rather skewed. Joy = two women's love for each other:- misery = everything else. Well depicted, but rather too many 'Journal page' headers with narration (though this is redeemed at the end), and scenes of cows being milked. And no home-made music? Really?
Much better than the unrelentingly grim 'The Power Of The Dog', nonetheless. Impressive end credits, too. - zahnker - 3 November 2021
This Broke My Heart
The setting is a grinding 19th-century western/mid-western life complete with fevers, loss, and brutal winters. To say it's a life fraught with loss is an understatement. A bond between two like-minded women, a deep friendship, a soul bond even, creates hope and a reason to rejoice, to be energized. Their detached husbands sense and resent the bond. One forbids it. It is a heartfelt and heartbreaking story, but it's one worth watching. This one stayed with me for a long time.
