It should not be a stretch to say that the United States is currently in a state of cognitive disarray following the overruling of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court. With this already controversial and landmark ruling, questions about the rights of women and the topic of bodily autonomy in the country are being asked more frequently than ever. Cinema, like any art at times like this, offers the venue for not just entertainment and distractions but introspection into the current state of the world, whether through documentaries or stories of the past speaking to the present. Case in point, an upcoming dramedy about a real-life 1960s underground organization about access and awareness to safe abortions is about as “timely” of a release as possible. Distributed by Roadside Attractions, the first trailer for “Call Jane” from director Phyllis Nagy is now available to view online.
Written by Hayley Schore and Roshan Sethi, the script made it onto The Blacklist in 2017, “Call Jane” saw its premiere back in January of this year at the Sundance Film Festival. In our review for the film from Sundance, available to read here and above, we praise the lead performance from Elizabeth Banks as a housewife unable to get a safe abortion in the face of a life-threatening pregnancy complication. As our review writer Gregory Ellwood noted at Sundance, “Dramatic roles are increasingly few and far between for the busy actress and filmmaker, but this is yet another performance of sheer charisma and depth that demands more attention from those in the know. We shouldn’t have to wait every eight years for Banks to deservedly step into a non-comedic leading role.”
For a film willing to tackle a tricky subject with a strong cast and a captivating lead performance, “Call Jane” soon arrives to hopefully further spark worthwhile conversations about the future of healthcare and personal freedom.
Starring Elizabeth Banks, Sigourney Weaver, Kate Mara, Chris Messina, Wunmi Mosaku, Cory Michael Smith, and Aida Turturro, “Call Jane” releases in theaters on October 28. Watch the new trailer below.