Certain Women is full of slow, quiet scenes in which women are putting on socks, smoking, or tending to chores. In another movie, these would be the passing moments in between the real action, or be used to quickly make clear who someone is or where she lives. In Kelly Reichardt’s subtle portrait of four women in Montana, these drawn-out depictions of rest and work are the meat of the film.
Yes, lots of people will be bored in the theater, even though the plot eventually delivers hostage negotiations, prison visits, and illicit lesbian crushes. But the gorgeous, impressively empty landscape makes every small face that appears beneath it seem interesting and important. Reichardt is no stranger to the West, and the Oregon she portrays in her 2008 film Wendy and Lucy is melancholy and perfect. In Certain Women, every minute expression holds tremendous weight—which she uses to communicate the small yet crushing frustrations that come with being a woman.