The film revolves around three strong-willed women (Kristen Stewart, Laura Dern, Michelle Williams) as their lives intersect in small-town America, where each is imperfectly blazing a trail.
For the most part, these narratives lack the kind of tension between character and setting that have made Reichardt's quiet, modest, measured films so compelling.
As with all of Reichardt's films, the gems are in the smallest moments -- the half smiles, the non-reactions and the silences between two people barely connecting.
Beautifully filmed and performed - the opening sequence using mirrors and doorframes to fuse the torsos of two characters to form a whole - is stunning, but in the end, the overall concept left me in the dark.
Certain Women is a film where a missed opportunity to connect, or a brief, surprising flash of empathy, feels crucial enough to pore over days after seeing it.
