Here's How You Can Watch Women Talking At Home

Growing up, I knew Sarah Polley as both Beverly Cleary's lively, imaginative heroine, Ramona Geraldine Quimby in the 1980s "Ramona" TV series, and then as the equally spirited Sara Stanley on the '90s Canadian (and Disney Channel) TV period drama staple, "Road to Avonlea." Nowadays, of course, Polley is better known for her celebrated efforts as a writer-director on the relationship dramas "Away from Her" and "Take This Waltz." Her latest venture behind the camera, "Women Talking," has even secured a Best Picture nod at the 2023 Academy Awards ceremony, in addition to landing Polly a nomination for her adapted screenplay.

Based on Miriam Toews' 2018 novel of the same name (which was itself inspired by horrifying real-life events), "Women Talking" takes place in an isolated Mennonite colony circa 2010. When it's discovered the men have been drugging and sexually assaulting the community's women in their sleep, the local authorities intervene, leaving the women to gather alone and discuss how they wish to move forward. Polley's movie has been widely praised by critics for the way it avoids exploitatively depicting these heinous crimes in order to focus on their aftermath and the ways the victims process their experiences. In her glowering review for /Film, Sarah Bea Milner notes:

It feels like an important film — but even as it's tackling this incredibly upsetting topic, there's an undercurrent of optimism and love that prioritizes humanizing these objectified women over reducing them to the transgressions acted upon them.

Following its exclusive theatrical run, "Women Talking" is heading to the home media market. Here's how you can catch it at home ahead of the 95th Academy Awards on Sunday, March 12, 2023. 

MGM's Orion Pictures and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment have announced "Women Talking" will be available to own on Digital starting February 21, 2023. For now, however, it remains to be seen where it will pitch its tent down the road, so far as streaming services go. Although the film is being distributed on home media by Universal and Orion, it was released theatrically by Orion only through United Artists Releasing (which may or may not complicate things when it comes to the streaming rights).

While many of the 2023 Best Picture Oscar nominees are already available to subscribers on a specific platform (or, in the case of "All Quiet on the Western Front," went directly to Netflix), Sarah Polley's drama was released late enough in 2022 that, for now, you'll have to make do with a Digital purchase if you want to catch it ahead of the Oscar show itself. That is, unless, you count yourselves among the home media fiends of the world. If so, 1) Fret not, you're one of us! and 2) If you're patient and willing, you won't want to wait too long to purchase a hard copy of "Women Talking" for your personal collection.

As part of the announcement, MGM's Orion Pictures and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment confirmed "Women Talking" will become available to buy on Blu-ray and DVD two weeks after its Digital-only premiere on March 7, 2023. The press release doesn't mention any special features but fingers crossed, the film will include a commentary track from either Sarah Polley and/or select members of its decorated cast. Their ranks include Frances McDormand ("Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri," "Nomadland"), Rooney Mara ("The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," "Carol"), and Claire Foy ("The Crown," "First Man"), as well as Jessie Buckley ("I'm Thinking of Ending Things," "The Lost Daughter"), Judith Ivey ("The Devil's Advocate," "Flags of Our Father"), Sheila McCarthy ("I've Heard the Mermaids Sing"), and Ben Whishaw ("Paddington," "No Time To Die").

The synopsis for the "Women Talking" home media release reads as follows:

An adaptation of Miriam Toews's internationally bestselling novel of the same name and inspired by true events, the "powerful" (Todd McCarthy, Deadline) and "extraordinarily vital" (Baz Bamigboye, Deadline) film follows the women of an isolated religious community who grapple with reconciling their reality with their faith. Certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with an impressive score of 90%, "Women Talking" has been nominated for two Oscars including Best Picture and Adapted Screenplay and was named one of the top ten films of 2022 by the National Board of Review and American Film Institute.