Suffragette (12A)

Director: Sarah Gavron

Starring: Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham Carter, Brendan Gleeson

THESE days it is all too easy to take our rights for granted.

But then it is startling to think that less than a century ago British women were denied a vote and a say in how their country was run.

Women were told they did not have the 'calmness of temperament or the balance of mind to exercise judgement in political affairs' and were 'well represented' in public life by their husbands, fathers and brothers.

Many worked longer hours than their male counterparts for a much smaller wage and suffered abuse in the workplace where they feared to speak out.

Mothers also had little legal rights when it came to their children.

Director Sarah Gavron's Suffragette tells the story of the women who took the matter into their own hands after 50 years of peaceful protest got them nowhere.

The powerful film is set in 1912 and 1913 in the lead up to the watershed moment in the suffragette cause when Emily Davison (Natalie Press) was knocked down by the King's horse at Epsom Derby.

She sacrificed her life to draw attention to the fight for women's right to vote.

But really this is Carey Mulligan's film who takes the lead as Maud Watts, a young wife and mother in a struggling working class family.

Maud is the viewers' entry point into the early feminist movement as she starts out as an overworked washerwoman who does not question her place in an unbalanced society.

But she is swept along by the forces of change, at first speaking in front of a disinterested all-male cabinet before slowly becoming a radical.

The film is well paced and its structure helps give a better understanding of the countless women who became estranged from their jobs, their homes and their lives.

Many were transformed from being wives and mothers to essentially footsoldiers simply because they wanted to be regarded as no more and no less than the men around them.

Around 1,000 women were jailed during this time and expect some brutal scenes to reflect this with violent arrests and force feeding.

Mulligan is strong in the lead role but is overshadowed by Helena Bonham Carter as activist Edith Ellyn who is tellingly considered one of the greatest threats to the establishment because of her education.

Brendan Gleeson is also excellent as Insp Arthur Steed who is sympathetic to the suffragette cause but his loyalty ultimately lies with the rule of law.

But Meryl Streep is severely underused as suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst.

With all women gaining the right to vote between 1918 and 1928, the actions of the suffragettes cannot be overstated.

And hopefully this inspiring film will make non voters think twice on polling day.

- Suffragette is on general release in cinemas on Monday and is also being shown at Home in Manchester as part of The Time Is Now, a season of films celebrating women's rights

RATING: 8/10