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Among all the movies screened at the London Film Festival this year there were two with very similar titles; Sarah Polley’s Women Talking and Maria Schrader’s She Said. It is perhaps no coincidence that these films have hit the festival circuit together (they both played New York and the AFI Fest too) since as those names might suggest, they both tell stories that originally came out in the wake of the 2017 #MeToo movement. Now is a time where accounts of female experience and toxic masculinity are finally being taken seriously and cinema is reflecting that.

2017 was of course five years ago but these films are adapted from books that were published in 2018 and 2019 respectively and the titles succinctly and perfectly reference the culture of dismissal that started to crumble at that point. You only need to place one word in front of either of the expressions to bring home the way this was normalised by society; just women talking, just he said, she said, but through these projects the words have been given a new power.

She Said is particularly linked to MeToo. While the tag had been around since 2006 it wasn’t until the Weinstein scandal that it really picked up and this film tells of how New Yorker journalists Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey broke that story. In this case it is because this is from their book, but the idea of following the people investigating a crime of this magnitude rather than those hit by it is actually a common approach in cinema. Erin Brokovich, Spotlight and Dark Waters all do the same thing and even The Accused felt it needed Kelly McGillis’ prosecutor to fill the narrative. This approach does create a bit of a distance from the victims which can be both a good and a bad thing. Here though it arguably gives the film less impact than similar movies like The Assistant and Bombshell. Sometimes breaking the story is the story, as with The Post and All the Presidents Men, but here I feel perhaps it shouldn’t be. The times when those that directly suffered Weinstein’s abuse are brought to the fore, like with two brilliant scenes featuring Jennifer Ehle and Samantha Morton, are definitely the highlights of the film. There is also one high profile actor that appears as herself which must have been something she had to think about as she did her decision to go on record at the time, which has to be respected.

For a while you’re not sure if the efforts of Kantor and Twohey are more about getting justice for women or getting good copy and a Pulitzer but there is an honesty to this as this must always be a duel consideration for crusading journalists. By the end it has come down on the right side. With so much time spent on doorstepping witnesses and waiting on crucial phone calls though, there are other aspects that are left undeveloped. The film seems to be looking at the enablers and the institutional Hollywood corruption on a couple of occasions but never really gets into this. There is also an attempt to move beyond the acts of this one man and to look at the universality of the issues; with the briefest concentration on the fears we could have for our daughters in this world, but ultimately it has a narrower focus.

For all of this the movie is still compelling and Zoe Kazan and Carey Mulligan are both very good in the lead roles. They have really strong support around them as well and the scripting and plot are engaging. It isn’t that She Said is a poor film, not at all. It is just that a few days earlier at the festival, I had seen one that was better.

In contrast to She Said, Women Talking somehow manages to be all about the full array of abuse, violence, bullying, lies and gaslighting that some males have inflicted on females in every circumstance and situation around the world. The plot has a very precise context but the film works really effectively as an allegory and as such can be much more widely applied.

Even with this being so, Women Talking is still based on real events. The novel by Miriam Toews is inspired by a case in 2011 where seven men from an Amish style Mennonite Community in Bolivia were convicted after drugging and raping at least one hundred and fifty women in their community across a four year period. From the sounds of this you’d think this to be a very hard film to watch and it certainly has its moments but under Polley’s direction it is an uplifting, inspiring, rewarding, sweet and occasionally even funny movie. The attacks the narrative is built around have happened prior to the start and what we see is exactly what that title says; women talking. The conversation concerns what it is these ladies, with representatives across three generations of three families, are going to do now that they suddenly know that their cuts, bruises and pregnancies are not the results of God punishing them as they have been told.

As the characters discuss their options, even in this very particular circumstance, it is easy to see how their responses to what has happened can be applied to any number of women and girls who have been similarly treated. By spending all of its time with the women who have been wronged it retains the focus that She Said never quite captures. She Said is a movie that talks about giving women a voice whereas Women Talking is a film that actually gives them one itself.

Crucially you also never know where the plot is going with Polley’s film, which by its nature, is not true of Schrader’s. Even though the running time of each of these movies is mostly filled with conversations, over the phone in one, over hay bails in the other – and around tables and in public gathering places in both, Women Talking is the one that truly builds tension and has you gripped by how it will end. It is also the one that properly examines the compromise women in this situation will accept which might not be the way round you would expect considering that She Said highlights the silences, forced and bought, that allowed Weinstein to get away with what he did for so long. Still, Women Talking better looks at the willingness of those affected to sacrifice principles, as well as all the other things: the consideration to protect others, the threat of more attacks, the attitudes toward other men, the responsibilities of parents, the education of young boys, the nature of the genders and the strength of shared feminine power, that should all be a part of this discussion.

Of course the other reason why these two movies are around right now, rather than in a few months time, is that this is the start of awards season. I expect both to feature in the ceremonies and so they should. The acting nods are going to be hard to distinguish for each of them; there is nothing between Kazan and Mulligan in She Said and in the brilliant ensemble of Women Talking you’d have to make a call on Rooney Mara against Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, Judith Ivey and Sheila McCarthy. Both will get screenplay recognition but if there is any justice Sarah Polley will also be up for directing as the framing and shot composition in Women Talking needs to be spoken about too.

When you see the titles of these two films come up then, my recommendation is that you check out what is behind them for yourselves. In both cases you should definitely hear what they have to say.

She Said is out in cinemas on November 25th and Women Talking is scheduled for release on February 10th