The World to Come (2020) Movie Review

『Forbidden Love Blossoming on a Desolate Land and Hope Amid Despair』

🎥 Movie Overview

🎬 Title: The World to Come (2020)
🌍 Country: 🇺🇸 United States / 🇮🇹 Italy
🎞️ Genre: Drama / Romance
🗓️ Production & Release: Bleecker Street, 2020 release
⏳ Runtime: 105 minutes
📢 Director: Mona Fastvold
🖋️ Screenplay: Mona Fastvold, Jim Shepard (based on the short story)
📖 Source: Jim Shepard short story 『The World to Come』
📺 Platform: Theatrical release and digital streaming services

👩‍💼 Cast: Katherine Waterston – Abigail
Vanessa Kirby – Tallie

🧩 Story Deep Dive (Spoilers)

❄️ Frozen Hearts and Emerging Warmth

Abigail lives a cold and isolated life, much like a harsh winter. Her relationship with her husband is formal and dull, and the grief of losing a child weighs heavily on her daily life. Her inner world is emotionally frozen like a lake, yet as revealed through her diary narration, a deep yearning for warmth still resides within her.

🌿 Stranger Tallie and a Quiet but Intense Connection

Tallie, who moves in as a neighbor, possesses an attitude toward life opposite to Abigail’s. She is lively and forthright, yet harbors deep hidden wounds and suppressed emotions. The two women gradually grow close, communicating silently, through gestures, and by intuitively reading each other’s hearts. Reading poetry to one another and spending time together in nature becomes a forbidden love and a lifeline of solace.

🔥 Oppression, Violence, and the Weight of Taboo

Tallie’s husband, Finney, senses the emotional connection forming between the women and threatens their relationship. Societal and temporal taboos force them to hide their love, ultimately leading to Tallie’s tragic fate due to domestic oppression and violence. Her death symbolizes the brutal reality of an era where love was forbidden.

💌 Memories, Traces, and the Language of a Lost Love

After Tallie leaves, Abigail traces the love they shared through letters, poetry, and small traces left behind. Footprints in nature and poetry volumes on the shelves act as tangible proofs of their unspoken emotions and shared connection. Through this process, Abigail confronts her own feelings and experiences profound inner growth.

🌸 A New Beginning at the End of Love

Though the love remains unfinished, Abigail discovers her hidden emotions and sense of self through it. Even though the relationship could not fully materialize, the feelings transform her and plant seeds of hope for the future. The film delicately portrays inner freedom and the essence of love, transcending taboos and oppression.

🦋 Emotional Resonance and Thematic Significance

🌄 Poetic Narration and Inner Life

The most prominent feature of the film is Abigail’s diary narration. Her intellectual yet lyrical voice vividly conveys the isolation, grief, and suppressed emotions experienced by 19th-century women. By recording desires and love only in her diary, this narration creates a rich inner space contrasting with the harsh external reality.

⚖️ Solitude and Harsh Environment

The film actively uses the imagery of winter to visualize the emotional isolation of its protagonists. The cold and desolate natural environment represents the bleakness of marriage and life for women of the era. The warmth and vitality they find in each other becomes even more precious and urgent. Their love transcends personal connection, serving as a quiet yet powerful resistance against a patriarchal society that defines women solely by roles such as wife and mother.

📜 The Meaning of 'The World to Come'

Afterlife: A peaceful world where the lost daughter Nelly and Tallie are together, free from the pains and oppression of the present.

The Future: A time when societal prejudice disappears and the women can love freely.

Imagination: Abigail sustains her love for Tallie through her diary, memories, and imagination, creating a private inner world.

🎯 Personal (Taste-Based) Rating

💕 Love Scene Intensity: ♥♥♥
⭐ Rating: ★★★★★