Grief is the whole subject of Pieces of a Woman, and director Kornél Mundruczó does not look away from it. Released in 2020 and running 126 minutes, this drama with Vanessa Kirby, Shia LaBeouf and Ellen Burstyn begins with a home birth that goes terribly wrong. K-Time carries it with a Persian dub and with Persian subtitles.
What is Pieces of a Woman about?
A couple has planned to have their baby at home. The birth ends in heartbreak, and the story is about everything that comes afterwards. The mother is left to carry an emotional weight that has no obvious shape or timetable. Her partner mourns too, but in his own way, and the two of them drift apart when they most need each other. Her family wants to help and has firm ideas about what she should do next, which only widens the gap. Day by day she becomes more alone inside her loss, cut off from the people closest to her by a sorrow none of them can share in the same form. The film stays with her as she tries to work out how to go on living.
About the cast
Vanessa Kirby is the first name in the cast, followed by Shia LaBeouf and Ellen Burstyn. Molly Parker, Sarah Snook, Iliza Shlesinger, Benny Safdie and Jimmie Fails round out the main ensemble under the direction of Kornél Mundruczó. This is an actors' piece: a handful of people in rooms, kitchens and family gatherings, with the drama resting on how each of them responds to the same event.
Context & significance
Pieces of a Woman is credited as a co-production between Canada, Hungary and the United States, and it belongs to a single genre, drama, with nothing added to soften it. Its subject, the loss of a child at birth, is one that many families live through and few films address directly. The approach is intimate. The interest lies less in the event than in its aftermath, in how mourning isolates people who love each other and how relatives can press their own expectations on someone who is suffering. Viewers should know in advance that the material is heavy and that the opening is intense. Reception has been positive, and the film is a fitting choice for anyone drawn to serious, performance-led stories about family and loss.
Watching Pieces of a Woman on Ktime
You can find Pieces of a Woman on K-Time, a streaming home for Persian-speaking viewers across the Iranian diaspora. The page you are reading is free. To press play you sign in to your K-Time account, then choose between the Persian dub and the original soundtrack with Persian subtitles. Menus and navigation are available in Farsi throughout.