Trailer Watch: Kristen Stewart, Michelle Williams, Laura Dern star in Certain Women

From Sundance, Anthony Kaufman at Screen Daily wrote:

“With Certain Women, Kelly Reichardt confirms her status as cinema’s foremost poet of the American Northwest…”

Nigel M Smith, The Guardian UK:

“Kelly Reichardt had proven herself a master at slow-burning, melancholic dramas with Old Joy, Wendy and Lucy and Meek’s Cutoff. She switched gears with the eco-themed thriller Night Moves: a relatively mainstream feature that moved at a faster pace than her preceding work. Her latest, Certain Women, an adaptation of short stories by Maile Meloy, sees Reichardt tackle a contemplative ensemble drama that recalls the solemn tone set by her earlier work…

“Like Reichardt’s directorial hand, the performances are understated across the board, but deeply felt. Gladstone conveys a heartbreaking sense of yearning, while never verbally stating as much. Dern and Williams, playing women who face sexism over the course of their two storylines, simmer under the surface with palpable anger. And Stewart continues to impress, following a revelatory performance in Clouds of Sils Maria, as a young woman seemingly oblivious to the effect she has others.”

More from Screen Daily:

“Working with cinematographer Christopher Blauvelt, who also shot Reichardt’s previous Night Moves and Meek’s Cutoff, the film has the genuineness of a documentary combined with the exquisite but never overly self-conscious imagery of an art film. There is nothing flashy here; Reichardt is concerned with real life, and though the three actresses in the film are veritable movie stars, they fit naturally into their roles as working-class Montana professionals…

“Stewart, in particular, has never been more credibly gloomy as an overtired young lawyer, who always looks cold and has dark circles around her eyes. Her story, but specifically her tentative connection with the small-town female ranch hand, is the most emotionally rich of the three narratives. Though still extremely subtle, the film conveys a sense of loss or missed opportunity in these two wandering people from different backgrounds and social classes who briefly connect. There is a slight sense of pathos in Jamie’s story. Maybe she yearns for a different life? Or maybe she’s just lonely.”