‘Suffragette’ review: Carey Mulligan saves historical drama on U.K. women’s suffrage

The women’s suffrage movement, both in the U.S. and the U.K., sounds ripe for a film drama and, finally, one is here. However, Sarah Gavron’s Suffragette, screened at the Savannah Film Festival and presented by Savannah College of Art and Design, disappoints and can only be saved by the fine performances within it.

Written by Abi Morgan (The Iron Lady, Shame), Suffragette is the latest film to fall into the British historical drama subgenre that seem to dominate awards season. Whether they are about science geniuses or Kings who struggle with public speaking, these films often suffer from predictability (because we all know how they will end) and focus on the Great Man (or Great Woman) of the story. Suffragette is thankfully different though, because the Great Woman isn’t the focus. Emmeline Pankhurst (Meryl Streep) only has one scene in the film.

Instead, Morgan script focuses on the fictional foot-soldier Maud Watts (Carey Mulligan). She works at a laundry, has a husband (Ben Whishaw) and son. So, she’s a bit apprehensive to join the suffrage movement at first. But when she has to testify before David Lloyd George (Adrian Schiller) at the Houses of Parliament, she is swept up in the movement. She joins Edith Ellyn (Helena Bonham Carter) and her team as they try to get Parliament to allow women to vote. Meanwhile, Detective Steed (Brendan Gleeson) is on their trail, studying their every move.

The film’s strong point is its perfectly put together cast. Carey Mulligan is great as usual, fitting into the role without problems. She’s wonderful in silent moments too and makes it hard not to get swept up in the movement, especially during Pankhurst’s speech. There are several other scenes in the film where she gets to show off her talents, like the moment when her son is taken away.

Everyone else in the ensemble gives fine performances, although the script fails most of them. Morgan doesn’t give Gleeson much more to do than yell at Mulligan and look like the Evil Bad Man of the story. He has no background or personal life and we don’t see why he thinks women shouldn’t have the vote. Is he only fighting the women because it is his duty? Does he really have something against women voting?

The film also has a curious scene chosen as its climax and it’s not what you think. Gavron and Morgan don’t actually go all the way up to women getting the right to vote in the U.K., so we don’t see our fictional surrogate through the movement get her wish. It’s not like the movie is running too long - it’s only 106 minutes - so, this is a strange decision.

That said, Suffragette can still be seen as a moving work, especially because the women’s rights movement is still ongoing, 100 years after the film is set. Mulligan is easy to root for because she’s such a good actor. She lifts the film, even when so much is working against her.

Suffragette is now in theaters. It was screened at the Savannah Film Festival, sponsored by the Savannah College of Art & Design. You can check out our interview with the director here.