Pieces of a Woman (2020)

Directed by Kornél Mundruczó. Starring Vanessa Kirby, Shia LaBeouf, Ellen Burstyn, Sarah Snook, Molly Parker, Benny Safdie, Iliza Shlesinger. [R]

This harrowing autopsy of loss and bereavement has, as the title obliquely suggests, an assortment of keen observations and slivers of traumatic expression, but they fail to coalesce into something truly affecting and meaningful. Expectant mother Kirby suffers a shattering tragedy, resulting in unshakable grief, a civil suit, and fractured relationships with partner LaBeouf, mother Burstyn, and others. The extended home childbirth that opens the picture is a riveting, squirm-inducing sequence that’s left adrift by the fallout, which covers more familiar territory with only the lateral touches lingering beyond the moment-by-moment, like witnessing Kirby’s fragile shell crack while circling a conversation about the White Stripes. And yet it’s the filler between its staged moments that leads to an almost restless sense of indecision, because as graceful as director Mundruczó’s overall technique may be, some of his metaphorical decisions are a little too awkwardly precise: the passage of time through the construction of a bridge, lonely shots of an apartment in decay to mirror its deteriorated inhabitants, the repeated apple motif, etc. LaBeouf is mannered and unconvincing, hitting the emotional beats like clockwork instead of organically; as the would-be grandmother, Burstyn is better, but the impetus behind her “showstopping” confessional outpouring feels forced; Kirby, however, excels as a bundle of restrained ferocity, broken and towering at the same time (her performance even redeems the otherwise stagy and contrived “addressing the court” scene near the end). Written by Kata Wéber; executive produced by Martin Scorsese.

68/100