The Woman Who Left

Name: The Woman Who Left
Genre: Drama
Released: May 19, 2017
Duration: 226 min
Rating: 83
Cast: Charo Santos-Concio, John Lloyd Cruz, Kakai Bautista, Lao Rodriguez, Mae Paner

2017

METASCORE

Universal acclaim based on 13 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 6 Ratings

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6.5

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6.5	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 6 Ratings

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The Woman Who Left

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Movie Details & Credits

Kino Lorber | Release Date: May 19, 2017 | Not Rated

Starring: Charo Santos-Concio, John Lloyd Cruz, Kakai Bautista, Lao Rodriguez, Mae Paner, Marjorie Lorico, Mayen Estanero, Michael De Mesa, Noni Buencamino, Shamaine Buencamino

Summary: After 30 years in prison, a woman discovers that her friend and fellow inmate committed the murder of which she was accused. This leads to her release and subsequent discovery of the man who framed her.

Director: Lav Diaz

Genre(s): Drama

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 226 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

A.O. Scott

May 18, 2017

The film makes uncompromising demands on your attention and your empathy. But it is also illuminating and, in its downbeat, deliberate way, exhilarating. Read full review

100

Clarence Tsui

Sep 17, 2016

The Woman Who Left is an immensely immersive and engaging tale about a wronged individual's grueling struggle between reconciliation and revenge. Read full review

Dave White

May 19, 2017

Diaz has made an epic-length small film about the powerless, one full of moral urgency that he chooses to elongate and slow down to a crawl. It’s a quiet consideration of grief and mercy, of control taken and freely given up. Read full review

Guy Lodge

Sep 17, 2016

This occasionally transcendent opus finds Diaz’s formal powers — not least his own incisive monochrome lensing — at full strength. Read full review

Jonathan Romney

Sep 17, 2016

At once over-repetitive and less surprisingly digressive than some of his other films, The Woman Who Left may not represent Diaz at his absolute peak, but it’s a powerful, thoughtful melodrama that pulls you into its world and delivers a number of irresistible emotional coups. Read full review

Kenji Fujishima

May 25, 2017

The characters here are so vividly drawn and performed, and the contemplative mood so remarkably sustained, that the film casts a genuinely suspenseful and mesmerizing spell over the span of its nearly four hours. Don’t be daunted by its length: at its best, Diaz’s film has the richness of a great, wide-ranging, deeply immersive novel. Read full review

Carson Lund

May 15, 2017

It suffers by resembling arty, didactic bloat when it most begs for a more sophisticated dramatic touch. Read full review

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User Reviews

DMLYxCritic

Feb 21, 2020

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Slow, contemplative, and rewarding: these are the things to remember when trying to watch Lav Diaz' epic, The Woman Who Left. Filled with poetic cinematography and amazing acting, this film shows hope, at the same time, breaks the viewers' hearts. The main problem of this film is its editing. Sure, Diaz's style is always long shots and no close-ups with amazingly long runtimes, but sometimes, the story jumps at cut-rate speed, leaving the viewers guessing about the implications of the movie. For a film this long, a viewer would think that every aspect of the story will be explored, but it sometimes does not go there. But overall, this film shows the best and the worst of humanity. Indeed, a very rewarding cinematic experience.… Expand

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