Pieces of a Woman is not a film that always works as well as it should, particularly when we consider how much potential there was embedded in this story. The English-language debut for director Kornél Mundruczó, who has already established himself as a fascinating cinematic voice in his native Hungary, as well as his collaboration with both his creative and personal partner Kata Weber, had so much promise that it just never quite lives up to. Not a bad film by any means, but rather one that is infuriating in how it fails to deliver on its wealth of potential, Pieces of a Woman is a somewhat disappointing effort, which is only exacerbated by the realization that there is an incredible film lurking somewhere beneath the heavy-handed socially-charged commentary that is supposedly profound and meaningful, but comes across somewhere between hostile and overwrought, making this a genuinely unpleasant experience. If we compound this with the fact that the film looks at some very disturbing content, which it presents in a manner that may not necessarily be blasé, but still somewhat insensitive, and we can see how truly unpleasant this film is. One of the most promising films of the past year, but one that unfortunately struggles to establish anything close to a consistent authorial voice, Pieces of a Woman is a film that relies too much on a small set of ideas, which it exploits to the point where it begins to fall apart, leaving only a jagged, uncomfortable attempt at social storytelling, without any of the nuance or sensitivity needed to explore these issues, leaving us with nothing but two hours of morbid ramblings that don’t add up to much by the end of it, making the ordeal of sitting through what was supposed to be a meaningful excursion into the human condition almost entirely useless, if not utterly painful.

Inconsistency is perhaps the biggest challenge this film has to overcome – at first, we are introduced to what appears to be a relatively simple story: a young couple are about to have their first child, and have decided to arrange for a home-birth, since they believe their unborn daughter should be allowed to enter the world on her own terms. Their planned midwife is unavailable when the baby suddenly decides to make her entrance, which means they have to rely on her recommendation of another midwife, whose compassion and dedication is called into question when their child suddenly dies in the minutes immediately after her birth. What follows is a detailed exploration of the direct aftermath – the couple has to adapt to the trauma of having lost their child, all the while being placed in the middle of a media frenzy focused on the midwife being put on trial for negligence, with the accidental death of the child forcing her to face the possibility of multiple years in prison. This is a strong premise, and would’ve made for an astonishing character-study, especially considering how it is rooted in the very relevant topic of the conflict between the personal and public lives of those caught in a scandal. Unfortunately, the film almost immediately loses all hope of realizing this potential when it becomes clear that Weber and Mundruczó are far more interested in going in numerous different directions, very few of them carrying much weight in regards to the interesting ideas that informed the first portion of the film. Running far too long, and with long stretches of non-existent narrative that supposedly function as methods of shading in the various nuances of its characters, but instead come across as tedious ways of filling in empty spaces, Pieces of a Woman struggles to do much with all that it had to work with, which only proves that having a strong premise isn’t enough to justify a film’s existence, and that more needs to go into the production of a film like this than simply bold ideas presented in a vaguely-artistic manner.

Another problem with Pieces of a Woman is that it genuinely believes itself to be more important than it actually is, trying to be the definitive word on the issues at the centre, but without the realization that the most effective stories are those that make an impression through more simple methods. There is an impersonal quality to this film, which only makes the fact that the director and writer were drawing on their own personal experiences all the more bizarre, since there is nothing here to suggest that they had any first-hand account of the issues at the core of the film. Cold and distant in a way that is normally reserved for the most clinical, unforgiving examinations of the human mind, Pieces of a Woman doesn’t give us much to work with, instead genuinely believing that remaining aloof and detached from any real emotion until the final moments makes it interesting, when in reality it simply just ends up being unapproachable and austere, which is certainly not the best approach for something that purports to be a deep-dive into the lives and mental states of two people after a traumatic experience. Pieces of a Woman is just simply not nearly as compelling as it believes itself to be, and instead chooses to remain on the path of standoffish nihilism, with only brief moments of emotion, which only serves to make this more uneven. Dramas about real issues are certainly allowed to be chilly and unforthcoming, as long as there is some method to the madness, which is never the case for Pieces of a Woman, which seems to be far too reliant on its belief that audiences will fall for the supposed compassion of a film that is simply much too obsessed with its own peculiar perspective on the human condition to make much of an impression where it matters.

Normally, a film like Pieces of a Woman would compensate for its more unapproachable story by populating the film with characters that we can relate to. To its credit, this is one area in which the film does seem to be making a concerted efforted, most notably in the performances given by some of the cast, who rise about the lack of consistent character development to deliver strong performances. Vanessa Kirby makes a strong case for her imminent rise to stardom, playing the fragile Martha, who is confronted with the grim reality of losing her child, and facing the terrifying aftermath. Kirby is very good in the film, and does exceptionally well in navigating whatever emotional depths are presented to her. The problem is that the film itself doesn’t manage to harness all of her talents, instead having her do the bare minimum in terms of emoting, in the hopes that we’d mistake this for depth. There are long sequences where Kirby doesn’t speak a word, and instead goes about her life silently – in a better film, these would be striking moments of unparalleled beauty. In this film, they come across as tedious, and simply a way to demonstrate how she is a hopelessly damaged woman. Elegant, striking and able to navigate the treacherous emotional depths of the character, Kirby is exceptional, and rises above the paltry material presented to her. Looking at her in isolation, it’s clear that Kirby’s performance deserved to be in a better film, since she was fully committed to a role that should’ve been far more substantial in how it explores the psychological aftermath of a traumatic event – but she is fully committed to the part, and single-handedly makes the film worth seeing.

In terms of the supporting cast, the film also casts the legendary Ellen Burstyn, but commits the cardinal sin of not using her nearly enough, pushing her into the background at nearly every opportunity, believing that simply having her included in the cast gives the film some necessary gravitas, which is certainly a mistake when working with someone who brings a certain calibre of performance to everything she appears in. There’s a tendency for newer filmmakers (particularly those crossing over from their native countries into English-speaking cinema) to be given the chance to work with a film icon, but struggle to utilize them to their full-capacity, almost as if they’re implying that their presence alone is enough to justify them being cast in relatively thankless roles. Burstyn is terrific, but other than a monologue towards the middle of the film (which is peppered with the most clichéd writing imaginable), and a few sporadic moments of either warmth or malice (depending on which character she’s interacting with), it’s not the best use of her talents, even if she is doing her very best to handle the bland material. Both Kirby and Burstyn are worth watching this film to see, since they are giving some tremendous performances that help sell the film’s emotional content much more than the narrative. The same can’t be said for Shia LaBeouf, who mumbles his way through the film as a man who is supposed to be shaken by the death of his infant daughter, playing him in a manner that suggests that the actor was more bored by the material than the audience, turning in a performance that would be atrocious if it wasn’t so uninspiringly dull in every way. It may not be a coincidence that the best parts of the film are those in which LaBeouf isn’t present, and his departure midway through is a turning point for the film as a whole, as attention is now squarely on Kirby and her superior performance.

Pieces of a Woman is the rare kind of film that had flaws that are large enough to be obvious, but not damaging enough to not have been fixed with some slight adjusting. The film is an absolute mess, but unlike some truly atrocious attempts at socially-charged filmmaking, there was clear potential here, and the only aspect preventing this from being an incredible film is the effort. The ideas are all present, and there is certainly an endless amount of promise driving it forward – the problems come in the inability for the film to develop on its powerful ideas, choosing to rely on the audience’s tendency to fill in the gaps, as opposed to doing anything even vaguely interesting on its own terms, since it would require a lot more effort than simply having its protagonist experiencing trauma through engaging in a number of trivial activities (most of which aren’t ever explained, their significance being impossible to discern) and engaging with a variety of people who have very little influence on the film. Pieces of a Woman is a very good film that is fatally obscured by hackneyed filmmaking and a complete lack of self-awareness, choosing to tackle difficult material without the impetus to actually do the work required to make it meaningful. This premise deserved better, as do the innumerable people who it represents, and while it may be relatively effective at moments, it is unfortunately not enough to make up for the constant grasping at meaning that just isn’t there. Less of a travesty, and more of a disappointment, Pieces of a Woman had the potential to be a much better film, which sadly just never comes to fruition, even when it seems like it may be heading that direction at certain points.