The World to Come - Who's Watching?

The world to come is a beautiful, tender period romance. The film, adapted from a short story by Jim Shepard, stars Katherine Waterston, Vanessa Kirby and Casey Affleck.

Set in the harsh farmland of Upstate New York, The World to Come depicts a love affair between two married farmer's wives that goes beyond friendship. A tale of hardship and patriarchy, the film is a poignant odyssey of two women who find hope in one another.

1. Katherine Waterston

Katherine Waterston is a rising actress who has won many fans with her roles in movies such as Michael Clayton, Queen of Earth, Steve Jobs, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and Alien: Covenant. She is also known for her work in TV shows like Boardwalk Empire, and The Blacklist. She is not on social media, and keeps her personal life out of the public eye.

The actress was born in a family of actors and started her career as a child actor in theater productions. Her mother, Lynn Louisa (nee Woodruff), is a model while her father, Sam Waterston, is an Oscar-nominated actor.

As a child, she grew up in a small town in Connecticut and attended Loomis Chaffee School in Windsor. She then went on to study at the New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where she specialized in acting. She later became a professional photographer and continued to act in stage plays.

She made her feature film debut in 2007 with a role in Tony Gilroy's Michael Clayton. She has since appeared in a number of other films including David Ross's black comedy The Babysitters, John Cusack's film The Factory, and Night Moves.

In The World to Come, Waterston plays Abigail, a farm wife and widow who is grieving the loss of her daughter. She lives with her husband, Dyer (Casey Affleck), and tends to their livestock. As she tries to reclaim her lost happiness, she discovers that she has a new neighbor, Tallie (Vanessa Kirby), who is struggling in her own way.

The two women become irrevocably drawn to one another. The intensity of their bond transforms their hardscrabble lives and fills a void that they never knew existed.

While the story is set in the 19th century, it still holds a modern relevance. Its focus on the ties that bind men and women in a time when same-sex relationships were not common, makes it all the more affecting.

Directed by Mona Fastvold, The World to Come is a lyrical study of human desire. Using Abigail's diary entries, Fastvold renders a portrait of intimacy that is painterly and lyrical. The on-screen electrical charge between Waterston and Kirby is palpable, and the director revels in lingering glances and stolen touches.

2. Vanessa Kirby

The English actress, born in 1987, has been in the spotlight lately for her scene-stealing performances in Netflix’s original series The Crown and a few Mission: Impossible films. Her most recent performance in The World to Come, based on the short story by Jim Shepard, earned her an Oscar nomination.

Kirby will next be seen in Florian Zeller’s The Son, a film based on another of his stage plays, alongside Hugh Jackman and Laura Dern, and Thomas Bidegain’s Suddenly opposite Jake Gyllenhaal. She also co-founded a production company called Aluna with Lauren Dark, who joins the firm from Film4 where she worked on titles including Passing and Prano Bailey Bond’s Sundance-bowing horror Censor.

A reimagining of the Shepard short story, director Mona Fastvold’s The World to Come is a tender period romance in which a woman grieving her daughter’s death meets the spirited Tallie (Vanessa Kirby), who becomes her muse and lover. The snowy New England setting makes the film a stark, lonely work, but it’s infused with a smoky embers of romance that burn brightly throughout.

For her role, Kirby received praise from critics, and was named best actress at the 2021 Venice Film Festival for her performance. She also won the top Volpi Cup best actress award and was nominated for an Academy Award, BAFTA, Golden Globe and SAG awards.

In the original short story, Abigail (Katherine Waterston) lives in an icy world with her functional yet loveless husband Dyer (Casey Affleck). After losing her daughter, she is grieving for a world of unrequited lust that eventually gives way to a new relationship with Tallie (Vanessa Kirby). The two women find their connection through clandestine embraces and poetry, making The World to Come a compelling example of queer period drama.

As Abigail’s life is turned around by her relationship with Tallie, she must learn to let go of her past and move forward in her own way. As she learns to trust in herself, her love for Tallie grows stronger.

The women’s bond is a compelling testament to how love can heal and transform even the coldest of hearts, as it does for Abigail and Tallie. While the film doesn’t quite stand up to Shaw’s masterpiece, it is a gorgeously crafted period romance that will have you yearning for a return to that snowy New England world where happy times came and went as quickly as a summer rain.

3. Casey Affleck

Casey Affleck has been a prolific actor, earning multiple Oscar nominations and acclaim for his roles in several films. His breakthrough came in 2007 with a nomination for the Best Supporting Actor award for The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, and a win for his performance as a grief-stricken man in Manchester by the Sea.

Affleck is a versatile performer and has an internalized, minimalist style of acting that suits his independent filmmaking sensibilities well. He has directed, produced and written several notable projects, including Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s Eleven trilogy, Gone Baby Gone, A Ghost Story and The Old Man & the Gun.

He has received a wide range of awards, including the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival for his role in Manchester by the Sea and a BAFTA award for his work in Aint Them Bodies Saints. He has also been nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award and the Golden Globe Award for his work in The Assassination of Jesse James by The Coward Robert Ford.

His career as a filmmaker has also been successful, with his debut feature Good Will Hunting garnering significant critical acclaim and winning the Academy Award for Best Picture. He has since directed several more notable films, most notably Gone Baby Gone, and his recent directorial effort The World to Come, a tense survivalist thriller starring Elisabeth Moss.

While most actors in Hollywood tend to be acclimatized to the mainstream, Casey Affleck has always shown a restless independence. From his time in high school when he competed in the Massachusetts High School Drama Guild Competition, to his first movie role as a scheming criminal, Affleck has consistently shown a commitment to bringing unique and original projects to audiences.

One of his latest projects, The World to Come, is the kind of pioneer love story that lesbian film nerds will roll their eyes at and think, "It's too much." But in this low-key period piece directed by Mona Fastvold (The Sleepwalker) from a script by Ron Hansen and Jim Shepard, Affleck proves once again why he is a major talent.

4. Mona Fastvold

Norwegian filmmaker Mona Fastvold's long-awaited second feature, The World to Come, is an absorbing period romance that premiered at Venice last year. It's based on Jim Shepard's short story of the same name and stars Katherine Waterston as Abigail, an isolated farmer's wife who falls in love with her neighbor Tallie (Vanessa Kirby).

The film is a study in how couples interact and the way they feel compelled to hide their intimate relationships. As a result, sex in The World to Come is handled with great care and is often depicted as a symbol of intimacy.

For instance, a scene in which Abigail and Tallie meet for the first time is shot with a wide-angle lens. This allows us to see the pair's mutual attraction and intimacy without the camera blocking their faces. The same is true when they meet again, as in a kiss, where their faces are visible on the screen and they lean in for a close embrace.

In the film, it is clear that both women are struggling with hardship and isolation while pursuing their romantic interests. As such, the complexities of their relationship become a source of intense drama and tension.

While their romance is a major plot point, the movie never lingers over it too long. It feels instead like a story of two women who are both a little bit different, with a subtle kinship that grows out of the resentment that their husbands grow toward each other.

What makes the chemistry between Abigail and Tallie so believable is the naivete they both bring to their relationship. Neither of them has much experience of sexual intimacy, and so they are both drawn to the idea that it could be possible for their lives to change. Their naiveté is also the reason they are able to communicate freely with one another, allowing their feelings and emotions to be expressed without fear of being judged.

As a result, their connection is very much alive, rather than just a passing feeling. Their relationship becomes more than a romance, though it is still firmly rooted in the bonds of family.