In 1960s Chicago, pregnant Joy (Elizabeth Banks) finds she has a life threatening illness with the only treatment being an abortion. She cannot obtain one legally but then discovers the Janes, an underground network of women who arrange abortions for women with unwanted pregnancies. After the Janes helps her, Joy becomes involved with them, graduating to performing the procedures herself. Meanwhile her lawyer husband, Will (Chris Messina) and teenage daughter Charlotte (Grace Edwards) are unaware of her activities.
The film ends in 1973 with abortion being made legal in America. With that legislation now being reversed across many states, this feels like a timely story that needs to be told. The attitude of the men on the hospital board who refuse her the abortion is really shocking, and that is the most powerful scene in the movie. I also enjoyed the camaraderie of the women who make up the Janes, with Sigourney Weaver great as Virginia, the veteran women’s rights campaigner, who heads-up the group.
Despite the subject matter, there is a lack of dramatic tension until Joy receives a call from the police, so there is a certain amount of flagging. Will’s dissatisfaction with Joy not being there to cook his dinner and his near dalliance with neighbour Lana (Kate Mara) seems a little inconsequential.
Rating: 7 out of 10