Jessie Buckley, Rooney Mara and Claire Foy star in emotional first trailer for festival favorite Women Talking

The first trailer for star-studded festival favorite Women Talking is here – and the emotional, somber teaser sees the likes of Frances McDormand, Rooney Mara and Claire Foy trying to will their all-female colony out of the depths of despair.

Based on the best-selling novel by Miriam Toews, the acclaimed drama has been at the center of steady awards buzz since premiering at Telluride Film Festival back in early September. Adapted and directed by Sarah Polley, it takes place in 2010 and sees the women of an isolated religious community struggle to reconcile with their faith following a series of sexual assaults. 

In recent weeks, critics have praised Polley's direction and screenplay, the film's cinematography and score, and several of its cast members; most notably Foy, Ben Whishaw, and Jessie Buckley.

The promo, which you can watch above, begins with a voiceover from Mara's Ona Friesen, as she questions: "Why does love, the absence of love, the end of love, the need for love result in so much violence?"

"We will be forced out of the colony if we do not forgive these men?" McDormand's Scarface Janz urges, but Foy's Salome isn't quite so ready to sweep what happened under the rug. "We know that we've not imagined these attacks", she shouts passionately in a later scene. "We know that we are bruised, and terrified."

"We have been preyed upon like animals," Sheila McCarthy's Greta ponders, as a montage of shots show the women aggressively attempt to take charge of their lives. Maybe we should respond like animals." The teaser ends with Mara's character wondering who she and her sisters will be once they've "liberated" themselves.

Women Talking is set to release in the US on December 2, and in the UK on February 10, 2023. While we wait, check out our list of the most exciting upcoming movies coming our way throughout the rest of 2022 and beyond.