Directed by Mona Fastvold
Starring Katherine Waterston, Vanessa Kirby, Christopher Abbott, and Casey Affleck
Runtime: 98 minutes
In Theaters February 12th and On Demand and Digital March 2nd

by Matthew McCafferty, Staff Writer

I’m not sure if The World to Come is going to receive the same kind of buzz and near-universal acclaim that Portrait of a Lady on Fire received not so long ago; but I won’t be surprised if it gets close. With both films centering around a forbidden lesbian romance during historical time periods (the 18th and 19th centruries), comparing them to some degree feels almost unavoidable. For me, I would put both of these films on the same level in terms of quality. I will admit that I wasn’t as high on Portrait of a Lady on Fire as many others, but it’s still a film that I liked quite a bit. The World to Come lacks slightly in a few areas related to character development (more on that later), but the performances and a few emotional gut-punches make up for most of those shortcomings. 

In the year 1856, Abigail (Katherine Waterson) and her husband Dyer (Casey Affleck) mourn the recent death of their young daughter Nellie (Karina Ziana Gherasim), who was ill with diphtheria. Right from the start with Abigail’s narration you can hear the pain in her voice as she describes their less-than-ideal situation. The two of them live in upstate New York on a struggling farm. They both stay busy with chores around the farm, but it’s Dyer in particular who immerses himself in his work in an attempt to escape the pain of the loss of their daughter.

The story quickly shifts its focus from their grieving and the intense hardships in their lives to a tale of romance between Abigail and her new neighbor, Tallie (Vanessa Kirby). Tallie and her husband Finney (Christopher Abbott) are renting a neighboring farm. While Tallie is friendly and outgoing, Finney is rough around the edges. Abigail quickly connects with Tallie in a way that she hasn’t (if ever) with her husband since long before the death of their daughter. But it’s not Dyer who is the threat to their relationship. It’s Tallie’s husband Finney who remains determined to control his wife however he can. 

Both Katherine Waterson and Vanessa Kirby convince us of this romance with a kind of chemistry that never feels forced. This accomplishment is even more impressive as it comes with a script that doesn't give them a lot to work with most of the time. Abigail’s narration that I mentioned earlier provides us with some insight into her thoughts, but most of the scenes weren’t written in ways that allow us to become easily invested in these characters.

The dialogue feels constrained in a way that masks the feelings and intentions behind these characters. Going back to the Portrait of a Lady on Fire comparisons, that screenplay gives those two main characters many more opportunities to expand on their personalities within that story. Again, major props go to Waterson and Kirby for overcoming this issue with The World to Come by displaying the kind of convincing chemistry that never lets some of the stiffness of the screenplay spoil the film. 

To clarify, I don’t think writers Jim Shepard and Ron Hansen wrote a bad screenplay by any means. My issues with the dialogue and character development issues aside, their story paved the way for plenty of other aspects to work very well. The work of Cinematographer André Chemetoff is a perfect example. I loved the way he captured the snowy upstate New York landscape. A cold and dreary, yet simultaneously beautiful setting set the mood perfectly for the story. There’s also the ending that Shepeard and Hansen crafted so well. I won’t spoil it here, but it’s impossible not to have some kind of emotional response to that ending. 

One last thought here. There’s something special about the way all of the hardships of living during the 19th century are portrayed here. The fact that it was not easy to survive during that time period is an aspect of the plot that doesn’t get glossed over. And it gave me this one simple thought as the credits rolled: It’s good to live in the year 2021. 

Yes, we are living through a pandemic right now, and yes, times have been tough over these past four years (to say the least). But imagine what it was like to live during the time of this film. There were so many illnesses and diseases going around that didn’t have any kind of treatment options. And in many cases, such as with Dyer and Abigail’s young daughter in the beginning of the film, people died horrible deaths from illnesses that are now easily treated today with antibiotics and other medicines. 

What I’m saying is nothing new. It’s not like we don’t know how rough it was back then. The World to Come is not the first movie to show us what life was like in the 1800s. But it does deserve its credit for concentrating its efforts on the historical details that help successfully transport us to a time and place that feels treacherous in so many unique ways. While the romance between Abigail and Tallie is the heart and soul of the film, it was that daunting feeling of what it was like to live in those times that added extra weight to the experience.