An impressive achievement. Not so much for the technical craft or the directorial vision (except for the Lucia Puenzo's episode, which is indeed superbly directed). There is a thematic coherence between the first five episodes. But what really stands out is the simplicity and the emotional rawness, especially in the first two episodes. They are incredibly moving and touching in the most visceral way. The first story especially serves us a gut punch on many levels. What makes it stand out is how completely it makes us identify with a mentally challenged woman undergoing a psychotic crisis and how she manages to get out of it. The tension is unbelievable. The next two episode also deal with mental illness, but in a softer manner. The second episode is also memorable, and has some unexpected moments of subtle humour. The fourth segment is about ordinary life of a single mother raising two young children. Nothing dramatic, just everyday routine. And the fifth is a more conventional thriller about a veterinarian who discovers that the woman who brings her dog to her clinic is a victim of abuse. It's a very tense story, well handled. The last two segments are completely different from the first five. The shift in tone is jarring. The sixth episode is a Bollywood extravaganza with musical numbers. The seventh is an experimental animated film that is very difficult to decipher. On their own, they are quite interesting. But they have nothing in common with the first five episodes which are very realistic and emotionally charged. The sixth segment tackles transphobia. That's also a social issue, like in the five previous segments that deal with mental illness (the first three), single motherhood and abuse. But the treatment in the sixth segment isn't realistic at all. It's pure spectacle. There's actually something very interesting in that tonal shift - a refusal to let women's stories be pigeonholed into just social realism, and insisting on a full range of cinematic expression.
Segments:
"Pepcy And Kim" (Taraji P. Henson) *****
"Elbows Deep" (Catherine Hardwicke) ***
"Lagonegro" (Lucia Puenzo) ****
"A Week In My Life" (Mipo O) ***
"Unspoken" (Maria Sole Tognazzi) ***
"Sharing A Ride" (Leena Yadav) ***
"Aria" (Lucia Bulgheroni, Silvia Carobbio) ***
