ReelBob: ‘The World to Come’ ★★½

This historical drama about two farm women who find solace in each others' arms lack fire and emotional intensity.

By Bob Bloom

In the last several months, a proliferation of movies has focused on either Alzheimer’s or dementia or historical dramas about women chafing at society’s constraints who find emotional comfort, support and love with other women.

Now, this may be coincidence — or an emotional reaction to the traumatic times created by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The World to Come” is set in the mid-1850s in a farming community in upstate New York. It focuses on two wives, Abigail (Katherine Waterston) and Tallie (Vanessa Kirby). They are weighted down by the drudgery and hardships of their farm lives, the patriarchal expectations of their respective husbands, Dyer (Casey Affleck) and Finney (Christopher Abbott) and their spouses patronizing attitudes.

Similar to the women in such recent movies as “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” and “Ammonite,” Abigail and Tallie find solace in the company of each other, and as in those earlier features, friendship soon turns to attraction, which, in turn, leads to intimacy.

“The World to Come,” though, lacks the fire and passion of those earlier efforts. Instead, it is emotionally flat, with most of the story narrated by Abigail, reading from the ledger she writes in daily.

The movie’s dialogue is sparse; we learn only snippets about Abigail and Tallie’s lives. Abigail and Dyer’s marriage is clouded by the death of their 5-year-old daughter from diphtheria. Tallie’s husband, Finney, is overbearing and sanctimonious, treating her with contempt.

Director Mona Fastvold, working from a script by Ron Hansen and Jim Shepard, fails to involve us in the women’s lives. We seem to view everything from a distance — not so much corporeal as emotional.

We fail to fully connect with any of the characters because they seem so morose.

That may be because, while the script’s language is somewhat poetic, it is in sharp contrast to the unforgiving, rocky and muddy terrain that mentally hammers everyone, causing them to bend but never break.

The relationship between Abigail and Tallie feels more like a contrivance than a real relationship. They first spy each other when, on their way to church, Tallie and Finney drive past Abigail and Dyer’s farm.

The two women exchange glances, and soon after, Tallie visits Abigail. When Abigail writes about Tallie in her ledger, the words sound like overwrought passages from a dime-store romantic novel.

Their growing bond seems to simply spring to life — built on a foundation of dissatisfaction, loneliness and resentment about their husbands.

The performances of Waterston and Kirby are sympathetic. You do understand their plight. They feel trapped in a society that sees them as second-class people, subservient to the whims of their husbands and confined by rules that bind them to specific roles.

Unfortunately, Affleck and Abbott seem more like props than individuals. They never come to life and are more male symbols than men.

“The World to Come “is a decent movie but lacks intensity. It seems to want to say something meaningful but, like the movie’s farmland, much gets buried in the mud.

I am a founding member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. I review movies, 4K UHD, Blu-rays and DVDs for ReelBob (ReelBob.com), The Film Yap and other print and online publications. I can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com. You also can follow me on Twitter @ReelBobBloom and on Facebook at ReelBob.com or the Indiana Film Journalists Association. My movie reviews also can be found at Rotten Tomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com.

THE WORLD TO COME
2½ stars out of 4
(R), sexual content, nudity