Amazon Prime Review – I’m Your Woman (2020)

You may not know the names of Rachel Brosnahan or Julia Hart but after you sit down to watch I’m Your Woman, which debuts on Amazon Prime this week, you will be well informed of their talents and you won’t be able to forget. Taking the world by storm with her role in The Marvellous Mrs Maisel, as well as her storming turn in House of Cards, Brosnahan has become one of the brightest stars of the small screen in recent years; while Hart, with the little seen indies Miss Stevens and Fast Colour, has been slowly making quite a name for herself as an exciting new director. Together, with this touching but thrilling film, they have produced one of the year’s very best. Now they have your attention.

Brosnahan plays Jean, wife to Eddie (Bill Heck) whose business affairs are shrouded in mystery even though Jean knows deep down that something untoward may play a big part. One day, Eddie returns home with a baby, saying he got the little boy for her as they have been unable to conceive, and he is now theirs to raise. Despite Jean thinking he has done something awful, it seems to be a genuine gesture until she and the baby are suddenly awoken by Eddie’s business partner Jimmy telling them they must flee the house immediately. Put in the care of Cal (Arinźe Kene) as more secrets of Eddie’s shady life are revealed with dire consequences.

So far, so thriller-of-the-week you may be thinking, but I’m Your Woman is easily deserving of so much more than sticking into that or any other such box. Sure, it has all of the elements you might expect from such an effort – shoot-outs, close shaves, cars fleeing from different scenes, enemies becoming friends and vice-versa – but all of that is simply a shell for a story that is as much about motherhood, female strength and resilience than anything else.

Jean starts as a scared, isolated figure but as things unfold around her, she finds her will tested but her power grow through having to survive in the most extreme circumstances. Through Hart and co-writer Jordan Horowitz’s smart, truthful narrative and compelling characters – as well as her gorgeous, slick direction – this feels more muscular and profound than anything that has gone before it, and while it does at times get stuck in the clichés and signposts of the sub-genre, they are able to navigate through them with panache.

At its core is Brosnahan’s spellbinding performance, full of quick wit, humour and thoughtfulness despite the anxiety of the situation she and her baby face. As is the time of year, talk has turned to a possible outside chance for the actress to score an Oscar nomination and while it perhaps isn’t the type of film the Academy will go for, there’s no denying the impact of her turn here. With excellent supporting turns from Kene, Marsha Stephanie Blake and the great Frankie Faison, the film is elevated further into the top echelons of 2020’s offerings.

★★★★

Crime, Drama | USA, 2020 | 15 | 11th December 2020 | Amazon Prime | Dir.Julia Hart | Rachel Brosnahan, Marsha Stephanie Blake, Arinzé Kene, Frankie Faison, Bill Heck

About the Author

Scott J. Davis

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Editor of The People's Movies for a year and a half, Scott has over 13 years of experience as a film writer and critic, writing for such sites as Digital Spy, Sci-Fi Now, Yahoo Movies UK, Flickering Myth, and more. He is also a retired interviewer and red carpet reporter for HeyUGuys since 2016, where he has attended hundreds of junkets and premieres, interviewing a range of talent from Tom Cruise, Denzel Washington, Jennifer Lawrence, Samuel L. Jackson, Guillermo del Toro, Martin Scorsese, Jim Carrey, Emily Blunt and many more.

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