--- title: "Certain Women" year: 2016 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/certain-women" fi1m_score: 84 critics_score: 78 critics_reviews: 28 published: "2026-09-17T12:39:44.140704+00:00" updated: "2026-09-17T12:39:44.601494+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Certain Women (2016) Directed by Kelly Reichardt · 1h 47m · MPA R · Drama **Fi1m score: 84** · Critics 78 from 28 reviews *In a sentence:* Three women, one Montana winter, and every man who could help has wandered off to talk to someone else > Kelly Reichardt lays three of Maile Meloy’s short stories side by side in a Montana winter and lets almost nothing happen. The first two are good. The third, with Lily Gladstone and Kristen Stewart, is the reason to see it. ## Synopsis Winter in small-town Montana. Laura (Laura Dern), a lawyer, keeps telling her client Fuller (Jared Harris) that he cannot sue over his workplace injury; he took the settlement. He will not hear it from her, so she drives him to a male lawyer who says the same thing. Gina (Michelle Williams) and her husband Ryan (James LeGros) are building a house outside town and want to buy a heap of sandstone from Albert (René Auberjonois), who is not sure he wants to sell. A ranch hand (Lily Gladstone), alone with the horses, drives into town one night and sits in on a class on school law taught by Elizabeth Travis (Kristen Stewart), a young lawyer four hours from home. ## Review Kelly Reichardt has taken three of Maile Meloy’s short stories and set them down next to each other in the snow. Laura Dern is a lawyer with a client who will not take her advice. Michelle Williams is a wife trying to buy some old sandstone for the house she is building. Lily Gladstone is a ranch hand who walks into a night class and finds Kristen Stewart standing at the front of the class. The stories barely touch. Nobody is shot, nothing is resolved, and the whole thing is over in 107 minutes. We recommend it, and the caveat is a simple one: you have to give the first two stories your patience so that the third can collect on it. The film is about people who are not listened to, and Reichardt makes the point in her first ten minutes. Jared Harris’s Fuller has heard Laura’s legal opinion for months and talked over all of it. She drives him to a second lawyer, a man (Guy Boyd), who says the same words in a minute, and Fuller nods and thanks him. We laughed at that, and then we recognised it, and Dern’s face in the car afterwards, tired rather than angry, is the film’s whole argument in one shot. Fuller’s despair then takes him somewhere we will not describe, and Dern plays it as a woman doing her job at the end of a long day. The middle story is the thinnest. Gina (Williams) runs through the trees in the morning, smokes where her daughter Guthrie (Sara Rodier) cannot see, and sits in Albert’s (René Auberjonois) front room trying to buy the pile of stone in his yard while her husband Ryan (James LeGros) quietly undercuts every offer she makes. Anthony Gasparro’s production design gives us the bare timber frame of the new house and the blocks of sandstone stacked outside an old man’s door, and both say more than the dialogue does. Williams is playing a woman the film is not sure it likes, and the story ends before it has decided. It is well made and it is the part we would cut if we had to. Then the ranch. Gladstone feeds the horses, mucks out, drives a truck, eats alone, and Reichardt, who cuts her own films, lets each of these run past the point where another editor would have left. One night the ranch hand drives into town, sits at the back of a classroom, and watches Elizabeth Travis (Stewart) explain school law to a room of teachers who mostly want to know about parking. Afterwards, in the diner across the road, Stewart eats a burger and complains about her four-hour drive, and Gladstone listens as if she has been handed a gift. It moved us more than we thought possible, and what did it was not a line but a face: a woman hearing someone else talk about her own bad day and treating it as the best conversation of the winter. There is a gesture later involving a horse that we will leave for you to see. It is the most romantic thing in the film and nobody says a word during it. Christopher Blauvelt shoots all three stories in the same flat winter light, snow and stubble and low hills, so the pictures never tell you which story matters most. The film opens on a freight train crossing the frame and that is about as much motion as it allows itself. Jeff Grace’s score is used so sparingly that you may leave thinking there was none. April Napier puts Dern in soft office blouses, Williams in running gear and Gladstone in a canvas work jacket, and you could pick each woman’s whole life out of a line-up from the clothes alone. The joins between the stories are slight and a little coy, and a viewer who wants them to add up to something will be disappointed. A couple of critics have called the film dull. We understand the complaint and do not share it. Reichardt made *Wendy and Lucy* about a woman and a dog and a car that would not start, and she has not become more eventful since. She has become more exact. It is a 12A. Watch it on a cold evening, put the phone in another room, and do not judge it until the last half hour is done. *Fi1m score 84, published 17 September 2026.* ## What the critics say Most critics like it, and for the same reasons. The reviews cluster around Reichardt’s restraint: three loosely connected stories of Montana women, told without set-pieces or melodrama, in long quiet shots that gather force. Praise settles most heavily on the third story, which many name as the film’s best stretch, and on Lily Gladstone as the ranch hand, with Kristen Stewart opposite her. The muted photography of the Montana landscape is admired almost everywhere. The reservations fall on the first two sections, which several critics find only moderately engaging next to the third, and on the structure, which some read as three short stories laid side by side rather than one film. The Hollywood Reporter finds it a touch academic and dry. Two dissenters go further: The Times finds all fine detail and no fun, and Den of Geek calls it one of Reichardt’s dullest, with no story or payoff. Even they concede the acting and the photography. ### Reviews we read (28) - **Little White Lies**, David Jenkins (5/5/5): Reichardt delivers another brilliantly understated study of love and desire through three hushed anecdotes of everyday struggles among Montana women. The film is a heartbreaker that trusts the audience to notice subtle sight-lines and points of intersection in its quiet portraits of unfulfilled longing. [Read](https://lwlies.com/reviews/certain-women) - **The Telegraph**, Robbie Collin (5/5): The critic hails Reichardt's perfectly weighted adaptation as a chilly, gentle portrait of female characters, singling out the third story as the best half-hour of her career and the film's Edward Hopper-ish visual quality. [Read](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/certain-women-chilly-gentle-portrait-female-characters-edge/) - **Los Angeles Times**, Justin Chang (90/100, inferred): The film is remarkably quiet and quietly remarkable, with its three stories coalescing in the most moving final section centered on a young ranch hand seeking connection. The director’s bone-deep appreciation for Montana’s desolate beauty and the cast’s performances are praised. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-certain-women-review-20161008-snap-story.html) - **Sight and Sound**, Kate Stables (90/100, inferred): Reichardt’s minimalist triptych of Montana women’s stories is emotionally compelling thanks to pitch-perfect performances, muted cinematography and austere direction that avoids melodrama. The final tale of infatuation stands out for its exquisite awkwardness and Gladstone’s standout performance. [Read](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/film-week-certain-women-kelly-reichardts-minimalist-montana-triptych) - **The Independent** (★★★★☆): Kelly Reichardt is praised as one of contemporary American cinema’s most accomplished minimalists whose subtle, soulful and acutely observed film is utterly absorbing with a surprising emotional impact despite its lack of obvious dramatic set-pieces. Exceptional performances are highlighted, particularly big close-ups of the puzzled and yearning women. [Read](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/film-reviews-roundup-viceroy-s-house-certain-women-trespass-against-us-fist-fight-a7605246.html) - **Variety** (90/100, inferred): Reichardt’s triptych confirms her status as one of the quietest great American filmmakers, a peculiarly riveting examination of lives lived when even their owners aren’t looking. The spare narratives, calico-textured beauty, and ensemble cast make it among her richest works. [Read](https://variety.com/2016/film/reviews/certain-women-review-kristen-stewart-1201687531/) - **The AV Club**, A.A. Dowd (B+): The critic praises the sensitive adaptation of short stories into a cohesive, understated triptych that captures the spirit of the format through tiny details of character and environment in a melancholic Montana setting. The standout final segment with Kristen Stewart and Lily Gladstone is singled out for its heartbreaking two-hander and radiant vulnerability. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/kristen-stewart-shines-in-the-sensitive-short-story-col-1798189243) - **Empire**, Liz Moody (80/100, inferred): Reichardt offers a rich, gently humorous character study luxuriating in the minutiae of these women’s outwardly small-scale lives, with note-perfect performances from the leads that eke out big emotions in small disappointments. It is described as a slow-burn piece whose light touch and performances make it soar. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/certain-women-review/) - **Film Comment**, Jonathan Romney (80/100, inferred): The critic finds Reichardt's triptych a low-key but emotionally rewarding study of ordinary lives in rural Montana, with intersecting stories that capture quiet inertia and small personal revelations. Particular praise goes to the subtle direction, the performances (especially Lily Gladstone as the rancher), and the way the film denies conventional narrative closure while highlighting everyday melancholy. [Read](https://www.filmcomment.com/film-week-certain-women/) - **Screen Daily** (80/100, inferred): Reichardt confirms her status as cinema’s foremost poet of the American Northwest with this patiently told, observational portrait of life in Montana through three loosely connected vignettes centered on professional women. The film is never explicit and may be one of her least commercial, but it rewards discerning viewers with its unromanticised slice-of-life approach. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/certain-women-sundance-review/5099257.article) - **Time Out**, Tom Huddleston (4/5): Reichardt brings a delicate touch to a slow-burn, low-key indie drama of three Montana tales linked by geography and the inner lives of complex women, evoking her earlier films with precise emotional directness and a strong sense of place. The final story hits hardest, though some characters could have been more developed. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/certain-women) - **Vulture** (80/100, inferred): The review calls the film a quietly powerful study in women’s uncertainties, where titanic emotions are framed in long, uneventful shots with cumulative power. It singles out Laura Dern’s transparent performance and the remarkable emotional play in the final segment between Stewart and Gladstone. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/2016/10/movie-review-certain-women.html) - **Evening Standard**, Charlotte O'Sullivan (75/100, inferred): The film’s rhythms and performances are built to last, with the final tale featuring Kristen Stewart and Lily Gladstone singled out as the most satisfying and authentic. The critic notes Reichardt’s preference for wry, crisp-looking dramas about depressed or beleaguered individuals groping towards a less bleak future. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/certain-women-film-reviews-three-tales-of-trouble-and-strife-a3680186.html) - **Slant Magazine**, Jaime N. Christley (75/100, inferred): The critic links the film’s drama to the pervasive threat of feeling slighted, praising Reichardt’s empathetic focus on silences, missed connections, and the contrast between male indignation and female resilience. The final tale’s sublimated struggle and romantic gesture, along with Lily Gladstone’s grounded performance, are highlighted as exquisite. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/certain-women/) - **The New Yorker**, Richard Brody (75/100, inferred): The first two sections offer only moderately engaging plots, but the third delivers overwhelming power through mood, observation, and longing. Reichardt’s attention to light and movement in the final story expands cinematic time and fills it with inner life. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/movies/certain-women) - **IndieWire**, Noel Murray (70/100, inferred): The review presents the film as a triptych of minor-key Montana character sketches adapted from Maile Meloy stories, noting Reichardt’s skill in translating the source material’s precision and ambivalence into an understated visual register. It highlights the strong performances, especially in the final segment, while observing the episodic structure. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/culture/sundance-review-kelly-reichardts-certain-women-starring-michelle-williams-kristen-stewart-and-laura-dern-88195/) - **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (70/100, inferred): The critic praises Reichardt's delicacy, intelligence, compassion and control in her muted but absorbing study of three women's separate lives in small-town Montana. The film declines traditional catharsis but rewards immersion in its quiet mystery and strong performances. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/mar/02/certain-women-review-michelle-williams-laura-dern-kristen-stewart-kelly-reichardt) - **The New York Times**, A.O. Scott (70/100, inferred): The critic finds the film a splintered portrait of three loosely connected women whose stories turn on frustrations and failures of communication that are painful because they are nearly indescribable. The performances and the Montana setting are singled out for creating a deep chord of melancholy. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/14/movies/certain-women-review-kristen-stewart-michelle-williams-laura-dern.html) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, Leslie Felperin (65/100, inferred): The critic describes the film as elegantly wrought with Reichardt’s trademark attention to landscape, human-animal bonds, and expressive faces, but finds it a trifle academic, dry, and lacking narrative cohesion as three discrete stories laid side by side. The starriest cast and the exquisite final tale of inchoate longing receive particular praise. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/women-sundance-review-858864/) - **The Times**, Camilla Long (★★): The critic finds the film all fine detail and no fun, appreciating the detail teased out by superb actresses in loosely connected stories but concluding there are no grand statements or themes. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/article/camilla-long-film-review-certain-women-logan-wolverine-xtb6nz6cp) - **Collider**, Aubrey Page (A-): The critic praises Reichardt's understated exploration of four women's emotional complexities in Montana, highlighting strong performances especially by Kristen Stewart and the film's tender, humorous ode to the female experience. They single out the quiet, affecting moments and visual warmth despite the cold setting. [Read](https://collider.com/certain-women-review-kristen-stewart/) - **The Playlist**, The Playlist Staff (A-): Certain Women is utterly enthralling with a glacial storytelling that has a mesmerizing effect. The critic singles out the careful way Reichardt establishes what the heroines are up against, including the cold, distance, arduous labor, and unwelcoming men. [Read](https://theplaylist.net/sundance-review-kelly-reichardts-certain-women-starring-michelle-williams-kristen-stewart-and-laura-dern-20160125/) - **The Wrap** (85/100, inferred): The film is a low-key but powerful examination of women under duress striving to survive. It singles out the heartfelt bond between characters played by Lily Gladstone and Kristen Stewart as providing the story's most moving moments. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/certain-women-review-kristen-stewart-michelle-williams-laura-dern/) - **Eye for Film**, Anne-Katrin Titze (80/100, inferred): Certain Women is a film suffused in uncertainties, with pictures that tend towards in-between moments memorable in a very private way. The critic singles out the gorgeous Montana landscape shot like a painting and the splendid actors who make it pure cinema. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/certain-women-2016-film-review-by-anne-katrin-titze) - **HeyUGuys**, Luke Channell (4/5): The film is an exquisitely crafted, empathetic study of the female experience that will seriously impress fans of Reichardt's style. It singles out the third segment's emotionally resonant performances by Lily Gladstone and Kristen Stewart for particular praise. [Read](https://www.heyuguys.com/certain-women-review/) - **Consequence** (70/100, inferred): The critic appreciates Reichardt's patient capture of everyday struggles and quiet moments in the lives of four women, praising the realistic portrayal and cinematography while noting some meandering and uneven focus on stories. They highlight the gripping realism and the ode to middle America. [Read](https://consequence.net/2016/10/sundance-film-review-certain-women/) - **Paste**, Tim Grierson (9.0): The review lauds the film's delicate construction and how small, quiet moments reveal character in three interconnected stories of ordinary women in Montana, emphasizing empathy built through actions and silence over big events. It singles out the restorative power of the stillness and performances that let subtle experiences speak. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/certain-women) - **Den of Geek**, Edward Douglas (2/5): The review calls the film one of Reichardt's most boring, criticizing its lack of story, character development, or emotional payoff across the three loosely connected segments. It singles out the beautiful cinematography as the only real positive while deeming the overall experience a waste of time compared to stronger 2016 releases. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/certain-women-review/) ## Details - **Director:** Kelly Reichardt - **Director:** Kelly Reichardt - **Screenplay:** Kelly Reichardt - **Story:** Maile Meloy - **Cinematography:** Christopher Blauvelt - **Editor:** Kelly Reichardt - **Music:** Jeff Grace - **Production design:** Anthony Gasparro - **Costume design:** April Napier - **Producer:** Neil Kopp, Vincent Savino, Anish Savjani - **Cast:** Laura Dern as Laura; Kristen Stewart as Elizabeth Travis; Michelle Williams as Gina; Lily Gladstone as The Rancher; James LeGros as Ryan; Jared Harris as Fuller; René Auberjonois as Albert; John Getz as Sheriff Rowles - **Runtime:** 1h 47m - **Certificate (MPA):** R - **Release (the US):** 14 October 2016 - **Genres:** Drama - **Budget:** $2 million - **Box office:** $1 million - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1tozi_ULZ8 ## Where to watch in the US - AMC+: streaming - MUBI: streaming, hd - Amazon Prime Video: add-on - Apple TV: add-on, hd - Paramount+: add-on - The Roku Channel: add-on, hd - Hulu: add-on, hd - Amazon Prime Video: rent $2.99, sd - Amazon Prime Video: buy $9.99, sd *Checked 2026-09-17.* Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HU, ID, IE, IL, IN, IS, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, MY, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PH, PL, PT, SE, SG, TH, UA, US, VN, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *Wendy and Lucy* (2008): Reichardt, Michelle Williams, a lost dog and a broken car; the same patience, one story. - *The Rider* (2017): A South Dakota cowboy who cannot ride, played by the man it happened to. - *Short Cuts* (1993), Fi1m 84: Altman braids nine Raymond Carver stories in Los Angeles; louder, larger, same ache. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/short-cuts.md) - *Yi Yi* (2000): Edward Yang follows a Taipei family through a year; long takes, small revelations. - *Nomadland* (2020): Frances McDormand lives out of a van in the American West; landscape as character. --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/certain-women