Polley draws a boldfaced line between being a Christian and being an artist (a religion by any other name to those who do it), linked in both the soul-deep significance these practices have for women and the control wielded over them by men. Though the source material is loosely based on a real-life episode in a Bolivian Mennonite village, its cinematic equivalent arrives to us as a big, ripe allegory for the ordeals faced by those traversing the hostile terrain of entertainment. And so they’re faced with a choice: they stay and figure out a way to survive in a rigid, violent power structure designed for their submission, or they turn their backs on everything they know and blaze an independent path toward spiritual fulfillment. They’ve only just gotten wise to the reality that their tormentors have not, in fact, been Satanic apparitions. Men have been dosing them, raping them and lying to them. The women of the small, isolated colony (that we learn the setting almost against the movie’s will is no coincidence, getting the year 2010 from a passing census-taker’s loudspeaker and the approximate location deep in the middle of nowhere from a forbidden map) have convened a quorum for a decision of grave importance. A dilemma readily comparable to her own presents itself in the adaptation of Miriam Toews’ novel about a community of religious fundamentalists in crisis. Polley went on to direct a handful of films, most recently the semi-autobiographical Stories We Tell in 2012, and now returns after another long hiatus with her follow-up Women Talking. Instead, she opted to withdraw in disgust - crucially, as stated by the Oblique Strategies koan-cards, not the same thing as apathy.

There’s a clear alternate reality in which Polley, proven one of the most promising talents of her generation in lauded indies like Exotica and Go, builds a career that leads her to the top of the A-list. Because she had already experienced treatment such as this elsewhere in the industry, and because her motivation to continue on in the business had waned as a result, she rebuffed his advances and slowly receded from the spotlight. In what’s now a bitterly familiar routine, he summoned her to his office for some coercive language and a stomach-turning offer to cultivate a “close relationship” that could bring her further success and awards glory. In 2017, actress and filmmaker Sarah Polley penned an op-ed for the New York Times entitled “The Men You Meet Making Movies,” in which she detailed an encounter with Harvey Weinstein from her teenage years.

New york times best movies 2017