You know that feeling when a two-minute clip just sucks the air out of the room? Honestly, that is exactly what happened when Netflix first dropped the pieces of a woman trailer. It wasn't your typical "prestige drama" teaser. There were no booming orchestral swells or fast-paced cuts to keep you from scrolling. Instead, it was quiet. It was heavy. It basically signaled to everyone watching that Vanessa Kirby was about to become a household name, and that Kornél Mundruczó was bringing something deeply uncomfortable to our living rooms.
Watching it today, even years after the 2020/2021 awards circuit, the trailer serves as a masterclass in how to market grief without being exploitative. It didn't give away the "twist"—though calling a tragic home birth a twist feels wrong—but it captured the suffocating atmosphere of a relationship disintegrating in the wake of loss. If you've ever seen it, you remember the bridge. You remember the apples. Most importantly, you remember the silence.
The Raw Power of That First Look
The pieces of a woman trailer did something risky. It leaned into the "oner." For those not obsessed with cinematography, a "oner" is a continuous shot without cuts. The actual film features a 24-minute sequence that is arguably one of the most stressful pieces of cinema in the last decade. While the trailer couldn't show all of that, it used the tension of those long takes to establish the stakes.
We see Martha (Vanessa Kirby) and Sean (Shia LaBeouf) in the middle of a home birth that starts with excitement and ends in a nightmare. The trailer doesn't show the baby. It shows the faces. Kirby’s performance, which eventually earned her an Oscar nomination, is telegraphed perfectly in those few snippets. You see the transition from a woman in control to someone who is literally coming apart at the seams. It’s visceral.
The marketing team at Netflix knew they had something special. Usually, trailers for "sad movies" use a lot of crying and screaming to bait an audience. Here, the power was in the restraint. You see Martha at her desk, smelling an apple. You see her standing in a grocery store, staring blankly at a child. It’s the "aftermath" footage that sells the story. It tells the viewer: this isn't just a movie about a tragedy; it’s a movie about the weird, quiet, often lonely ways we survive it.
Why the Music and Sound Design Mattered
If you go back and re-watch the pieces of a woman trailer, pay attention to the sound. Howard Shore, the legend behind the Lord of the Rings score, did the music here. But it’s not epic. It’s fragile.
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There’s a specific piano melody that weaves through the trailer. It sounds like something is breaking. It matches the cold, grey aesthetic of Boston in the winter. The sound design also highlights the mundane noises that become deafening when you’re grieving—the sound of a turn signal, the rustle of a bag, the wind off the river.
Many people forget that Martin Scorsese put his name on this as an executive producer. That’s a huge "seal of approval." When his name flashes across the screen in the trailer, it changes the context. Suddenly, it’s not just a Netflix original; it’s cinema. It promises a level of grit and emotional honesty that you don't always get from standard streaming fare.
The Contrast Between Martha and Sean
One thing the trailer does brilliantly is establish the friction between the two leads. Sean is explosive. He’s a construction worker, a guy who builds things—specifically the bridge that looms over the film as a metaphor. Martha is internal. She’s wealthy, repressed, and trying to hold onto a sense of normalcy that no longer exists.
The trailer highlights this disconnect without using a lot of dialogue. You see them sitting on a couch, miles apart despite being inches away. You see the way Martha's mother, played by the formidable Ellen Burstyn, enters the frame. Burstyn’s character represents the "old world" way of dealing with trauma—litigation, blame, and "moving on" through force of will. The trailer sets up this three-way emotional tug-of-war perfectly.
The Symbolism Most People Missed
The pieces of a woman trailer is littered with seeds. If you haven't seen the movie, they just look like nice shots. If you have, they’re devastating.
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- The Apple Seeds: We see Martha obsessively checking apple seeds. In the film, this becomes a symbol of her desire to see something—anything—grow in the wake of death.
- The Bridge: Sean’s work on the bridge is a constant background element. It’s about connection, but also about things that are unfinished or structurally unsound.
- The Cold: The color palette is blue, grey, and white. It feels like you can feel the draft coming through the window.
Kinda makes you want to put on a sweater just thinking about it, right?
The trailer also subtly introduces the legal battle. We see glimpses of a courtroom and a midwife (Molly Parker) looking distraught. This was a smart move for the marketing. It suggested a "legal thriller" element that made the film more accessible to people who might be intimidated by a pure character study on grief. It gave the story a traditional "conflict" to latch onto, even though the real heart of the movie is much more abstract.
The Vanessa Kirby "Arrival" Moment
Before this, people knew Kirby from The Crown as Princess Margaret. She was great, but this was different. The pieces of a woman trailer was essentially a two-minute audition for the A-list.
There is a shot of her in the trailer where she’s just looking into a mirror. No makeup, messy hair, looking absolutely haunted. It’s the kind of "degrooming" that Hollywood loves, but it didn't feel like a stunt. It felt like a person who had lost her North Star.
Honestly, the trailer’s focus on her face was a genius move. It forced the audience to look at the pain rather than look away. It’s uncomfortable. It’s supposed to be. In an era where trailers are often criticized for being too loud or giving away every joke, this one was a reminder that silence and a singular, powerful performance can be a much stronger hook.
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Why We Are Still Talking About It
Even in 2026, people search for the pieces of a woman trailer because it represents a specific moment in film history. It was released during a time when we were all stuck at home, dealing with a collective sense of loss. The film’s themes of isolation and the difficulty of communicating pain resonated in a way that perhaps wouldn't have been as sharp in a normal year.
It’s also a case study in "Prestige Streaming." It showed that Netflix could compete with the likes of A24 or Searchlight in terms of raw, unvarnished indie-style storytelling. The trailer wasn't trying to sell you a fun Friday night. It was selling you a cathartic experience.
Addressing the Controversy
It’s worth noting that the film’s legacy is somewhat complicated by the real-life allegations against Shia LaBeouf that surfaced shortly after the film’s release. Netflix notably scrubbed his name from their award's campaign. If you watch the trailer now, his presence feels different. It adds a layer of tension that perhaps wasn't intended by the filmmakers, but it’s part of the conversation surrounding the movie. Some viewers find it hard to watch his performance, while others argue it adds to the volatility of the character. Regardless of where you stand, his chemistry with Kirby in those trailer snippets is undeniably electric and fraught with danger.
How to Approach the Film After the Trailer
If the pieces of a woman trailer has you curious, there are a few things you should know before hitting play. This isn't a movie you "put on in the background."
- Prepare for the opening: The birth scene is legendary for a reason. It is shot in real-time. It is intense. If you have personal triggers related to childbirth or infant loss, proceed with extreme caution.
- It’s a slow burn: The trailer makes the movie look like it might be a fast-paced legal drama. It’s not. Most of the movie is about the "quiet" in between the big moments.
- Watch the acting: Beyond Kirby, Ellen Burstyn gives a monologue late in the film that is worth the price of admission alone. It’s a masterclass in screen acting.
The film ultimately explores the idea that grief is not a linear process. It’s messy. It involves buying too many plants, getting weird tattoos, and pushing away the people who love you. The trailer captures that messiness and packages it into something beautiful, which is no small feat.
Actionable Next Steps for Film Lovers
If the artistry of the pieces of a woman trailer piqued your interest in cinematography and emotional storytelling, here is how to dive deeper into that style of filmmaking:
- Research the "Long Take": Look up the work of director of photography Benjamin Loeb. He used the Arri Alexa Mini with Panavision lenses to create that floaty, intimate feel. Studying his lighting choices—mostly naturalistic and soft—explains why the movie looks so "real" compared to standard blockbusters.
- Compare the Stage Play: Many don't realize Pieces of a Woman was originally a stage play in Poland, written by Kata Wéber (who also wrote the screenplay). Wéber based much of the story on her own experiences. Reading interviews with her provides a much deeper layer of empathy to the "pieces" you see in the trailer.
- Explore the "Grief Cinema" Genre: If this trailer moved you, look into films like Manchester by the Sea or Ordinary People. These films, much like Pieces of a Woman, avoid the "Hollywood" version of sadness and instead focus on the grit of everyday survival.
- Analyze the Marketing Pivot: For students of media, compare the initial teaser to the final "For Your Consideration" spots. You can see how the narrative shifted from "intense drama" to "award-winning performance," which is a classic example of how a film's identity is built through its trailer iterations.
The pieces of a woman trailer stands as a reminder that the best marketing doesn't just show you what a movie is about—it shows you how the movie is going to make you feel. It’s an invitation to a difficult, but ultimately necessary, conversation about what we do when our lives are shattered into a million tiny pieces.