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Oct 26, 2015 By Shawn Hazelett Web Exclusive

In 1912 Britain, the suffragettes had a simple goal: the right to vote. A housewife named Maud Watts (Carey Mulligan) joins the movement slowly, silently observing meetings held in the back room of a pharmacy run by Edith Ellyn (Helena Bonham Carter). She insists she’s just there to listen, but soon finds herself in front of Parliament speaking on her difficult upbringing and her poorly compensated yet highly dangerous job in industrial laundry (neglecting to mention that her boss is a sexual predator). The honest testimony feels universal to all women and appears to move her male listeners, even the icy David Lloyd George. Thus, when their proposals are declined, Maud realizes the true nature of her gender’s disenfranchisement: more than not having a vote, they don’t have a voice.

Suffragette examines the brave fighters who ensured British women a voice and, in doing so, showcases a history rarely told on screen. Unfortunately, the bold, unapologetic characters it champions are tempered by bland, inoffensive filmmaking. Abi Morgan’s screenplay understands the issues at stake and, as Maud takes a more active role in the fight against patriarchy, even touches upon universal issues within activism, namely self-sacrifice and violent demonstration. However, too often the film retreats from the complexity of its debates in favor of comprehension, reducing complex issues that should anger and inspire to catalysts for copy-and-paste, genre filmmaking.

www.focusfeatures.com/suffragette

Author rating: 5/10