Woman Walks Ahead

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Woman Walks Ahead

R

Released Jun 29, 2018

1h 42m

Western

History

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

59%

Tomatometer

44 Reviews

62%

Popcornmeter

250+ Ratings

A headstrong New York painter embarks on a dangerous journey to meet Sitting Bull but must face off with an Army officer intent on war with the Native Americans.

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Critics Consensus

Woman Walks Ahead gets some extra mileage out of watchable work from Jessica Chastain and Michael Greyeyes, but uneven pacing and two-dimensional characters undermine their efforts.

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Roxana Hadadi

Pajiba

Susanna White and Jessica Chastain's Woman Walks Ahead is well-meaning but bland, another white savior among natives story.

Jul 6, 2018

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Peter Travers

Rolling Stone

As a New York widow who travels to South Dakota in 1889 to paint Sitting Bull, the stellar Jessica Chastain can't save this Hollywoodized frontier biopic from grave historical inaccuracy.

Rated: 2/4

Jul 2, 2018

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Tomris Laffly

Time Out

Jessica Chastain and Michael Greyeyes bring smarts and chemistry to this worthy Western.

Rated: 3/5

Jul 2, 2018

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Sandie Angulo Chen

AWFJ.org

It's unclear how historically accurate director Susanna White's film is, but it's quite compelling to find out more about Catherine Weldon.

Oct 12, 2021

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Cate Marquis

AWFJ.org

Once again, Chastain lands a role as a strong woman carving out her own way in the world.

Oct 12, 2021

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Anne Brodie

What She Said

There's much to learn and watching the relationship between Sitting Bull and Weldon grow is a profound thing.

Oct 12, 2021

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Megan e

Surprising film with excellent performances! "it's damn hard being brave". 5 stars

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

10/30/23

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Ashley H

Woman Walks Ahead is a decent film. It is about a portrait painter from 1890s Brooklyn who travels to Dakota to paint a portrait of Sitting Bull. Jessica Chastain and Louise Krause give good performances. The script is a little slow in places. Susanna White did alright job directing this movie. I liked this motion picture because of the drama and history.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

05/22/23

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Audience Member

I enjoyed this movie and the story it told about painter Catherine Weldon among the Sioux Indians and Sitting Bull leading up to the Massacre of Wounded Knee which to this day is a black mark on the history books for the American Cavalry.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/13/23

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Audience Member

An touching drama based on historical events with a skilled cast and inspiring locations. Although I was disappointed to see New Mexico as a stand-in for North Dakota. I would recommend and tire of reading comments from "Top Critics" who criticize fictional dramas based on historical characters as if they were non-fiction biographies. This is not a documentary. In this time of Covid, maybe I like a hint of romance mixed with history. I may not be a "Top Critic", but I have been watching films for over 50 years.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/24/23

Full Review

debie k

Entertaining. Well acted. Good cinematography. Slow paced, decent script that does have several historical inaccuracies, but also portrays some informative historical facts on the 1887 Dawes Act, the treatment of the Hunkpapa Lakota Sioux and their leader Sitting Bull, and the unrest in the Dakota Territory. Not sure why it has the R rating, no blatant nudity or language with 2 mildly violent scenes. If you watch, not for historical accuracy, but purely for entertainment value, this is a compelling and enjoyable movie IMHO! (to get the historically accurate info, I suggest looking up Sitting Bull and Catherine Weldon after watching the film)

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

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Audience Member

A very interesting movie about the female artist who painted Sitting Bull and the respect and understanding that developed between people who were from two completely different worlds. I really enjoyed it and learned a lot.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

Full Review

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Susanna White

Director

Jessica Chastain

Catherine Weldon

Michael Greyeyes

Sitting Bull

Ciarán Hinds

James McLaughlin

Sam Rockwell

Colonel Silas Grove

Chaske Spencer

Chaska

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Woman Walks Ahead: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

A headstrong New York painter embarks on a dangerous journey to meet Sitting Bull but must face off with an Army officer intent on war with the Native Americans.

Director: Susanna White
Producer: Andrea Calderwood, Marshall Herskovitz, Erika Olde, Richard Solomon, Edward Zwick
Screenwriter: Steven Knight
Distributor: A24
Production Co: Lipsync Productions, Black Bicycle Entertainment, Potboiler Productions, The Bedford Falls Company
Rating: R (Brief Violence and Language)
Genre: Western, History, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 29, 2018, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 26, 2018
Box Office (Gross USA): $34.5K
Runtime: 1h 42m

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