This dark and gripping historical drama follows the nascent British feminist movement as it unfolds in gritty, brutal East London of 1912, and tells a unique story about these early warriors who were forced underground to galvanize in an effort to subvert the oppression of police, employers, and their government. Propelled by a lack of progress in humane labor practices and prolific social degradation, women workers were focused on more pressing needs than just earning the right to vote. Carey Mulligan and Helena Bonham Carter, supported by an ensemble of terrific actors, give riveting performances as working class women whose despair is palpable as they edge towards the brink of radicalism and violence. Edwardian women sacrificed and suffered at this moment to be heard in a brutal fight for dignity, and the film is all too timely, as it reminds us that their story is not so far removed from the struggle for basic women’s rights in so much of our world. –JBFC Programmer Karen Sloe Goodman