The Woman Who Left

Lav Diaz’s Golden Lion-winning film stars Charo Santos Concio as a woman who leaves prison fuelled by revenge.

After thirty years in prison, convicted of murder, Horacia has found her groove. She is a source of kindness and support for other inmates, is friends with the Chief Warden and spends her extra time teaching the children of other prisoners who are growing up behind bars. But Horacia is an innocent woman, and when her acquaintance confesses to the murder, her conviction is overturned.

With life irreparably changed by three stolen decades, Horacia leaves prison with revenge on her mind.

Curator's note
Three years after adapting Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment to the screen with Norte, The End of History, Lav Diaz pays homage to another Russian literary giant, Leo Tolstoy. Inspired by the short story God Sees the Truth, But Waits, The Woman Who Left feels like it completes a duology of films – almost like two bookends that are equal but opposite. On the surface, both films feature characters facing enormous injustices; however, beneath them flow vastly different philosophical currents.

The Woman Who Left premiered at the 73rd Venice International Film Festival, where it won the festival’s highest honour, the Golden Lion for Best Film.