A J

A lesson in how greed and ambition can paralyse all basic human senses. Hoess and his family lived the idyllic life, whilst the worst of human atrocities was taking place just over the the garden wall. They couldn’t see it, hear it or smell it, but Hoess’s mother in law could! May be that’s why she left unannounced in the early hours. Hedwig Hoess preened herself in front of the mirror, the mink she worn was beautiful, did she spare a thought for its previous owner, it seems not.

It was a story, being told by a group of women on their perspective and possible solution to generational abuse by some of the male elders within a very strict and closed religious community. The women were all very different characters so their take on how to deal with this situation was quite different, some women were great thinkers and very thoughtful, some were hot headed, therefore conversations could be quite heated and dramatic at times. In the end they gathered their belongings and their children and left the community on mass. This move was profound, these women had had so little contact with the outside world made even harder by their lack of basic education, and made difficult by the fact that their older sons had to be left behind bearing in mind that they could/would possibly be abusers themselves. I found myself wondering which character reflected how I would behave in this situation, and at times I found their story very emotional. I was in tears and felt quite emotionally drained by the end of the movie, but it was well worth watching.