Inspired by actual events, Susanna White’s (Our Kind of Traitor, Nanny McPhee Returns) Woman Walks Ahead is a pretty good movie, but one made worse by its Hollywoodization. The film takes true events and changes them for no real reason. The general moviegoer would never have known the difference between what transpired and what was fictionalized. But the fact that there was a differentiation between fact and fiction didn’t do anything but cheapen the movie. One of the hardest things for me to do when reviewing a movie is trying to determine if the liberties that were taken to strip a film of its factual basis while still claiming to be based on a true story truly advance the movie past the point where it would have arrived to if it had just followed the facts.

There is a big difference between Based on a True Story versus Inspired by True Events. Almost anything can be inspired by an actual event. To be fair, Woman Walks Ahead never says if it is based on a true story or inspired by true events. But then again, if you see a movie featuring Sitting Bull, you likely conclude that the film was based on an actual event. We don’t need a caption to tell us this at the movie’s start. So you can do one of two things. You could enjoy the film as it is, which does have a lot of factual aspects to go with its fictional elements or pick at the movie about its discrepancies between fact and fiction until you get to the point where you can find no joy in it. I often try to go with the former than the latter, but it’s so hard sometimes, especially when you have a movie that would have been just as good had it used its factual components as it is with its fictional elements. From what I gathered from my research, Woman Walks Ahead would have left us with a similar feel at the end if it had followed the story more faithful to its actual form.

The movie stars Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty, Molly’s Game) as Catherine Weldon, a widowed artist from New York who, in the 1880s, traveled alone to North Dakota to paint a rare portrait of Chief Sitting Bull (Michael Greyeyes – The New World, Sunshine State). Unfortunately, her arrival at Standing Rock isn’t welcomed by the Native Americans or the white people governing the land. US Officer Silas Groves (Sam Rockwell – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Vice) is incredibly hostile towards her. Groves and others are trying to get the Lakota Sioux Indians to agree to the Dawes Act. This proposition offered US citizenship to Native Americans willing to separate themselves from their tribes. Sounds great, right? However, if passed, the act would sell half the land from under them. It’s one of many examples of the white man taking land in the Pacific Northwest unlawfully from the Native Americans who roamed that land much.

Catherine slowly earns the trust of the Native Americans, who had been trained to distrust the white people. Eventually, the talented artist is allowed to paint several portraits of Sitting Bull. The two become close, much closer than friends, and closer than either of them believed would be possible. In addition to the sexual tension between the two, Catherine becomes an ally to the Native Americans and their cause, reading between the lines and understanding what the Dawes Act would mean to Sitting Bull and his people.

White’s movie zigzags between the ideals of a strong and determined feminist and the friendship of two personalities that would have never normally met against the backdrop of a disappearing western frontier. Eventually, it becomes not just a battle between the Native Americans and the white people who are trying to erase them from their land but a more personal one between Catherine, Sitting Bull, and his people fighting for their rights and the patronizing and vile Silas and the ultra-aggressive, greedy townfolk that side right along with him.

Woman Walks Ahead isn’t for everyone. There isn’t much action, and the small amount of action shown might not sit well with some. But it is painstakingly beautiful in its richness of characters, its canvas, and its history. There is a definite distinction between good and evil (Catherine/Sitting Bull/Sioux Indians vs. Silas/white townsfolk). We all know the history of how white Americans treated Native Americans. This is just one slice of that rich history that screams injustice. In terms of acting, Chastain is the star. Greyeyes and Rockwell are excellent in their roles, but this movie would have crumbled without a lead as strong, independent, and forthright as Chastain’s Catherine. It’s not Chastain’s best movie, but it is another one in a career that continues to churn top-notch performances and films.

Plot 8.5/10
Character Development 8.5/10
Character Chemistry 8.5/10
Acting 8.5/10
Screenplay 8.5/10
Directing 7.5/10
Cinematography 9.5/10
Sound 7.5/10
Hook and Reel 7.5/10
Universal Relevance 9/10
83.5%

B-

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