“Suffragette” is a moving drama that will empower all who are striving for equal rights in our own day and age. The stirring film is inspired by the early-20th-century campaign of the Suffragettes, who were activists for Women's Suffrage — the right of women to vote. The cast includes Academy Award nominees Carey Mulligan and Helena Bonham Carter, Golden Globe Award nominee Brendan Gleeson, British Independent Film Award winner Anne-Marie Duff, BAFTA Award winner Ben Whishaw, and three time Academy Award-winner Meryl Streep.
The time is 1912. The U.K. is seeing an increased public presence of the Suffragettes, whose rallying cry is "Votes for Women!" Their efforts at resistance over the years have been passive, but as the women face increasingly aggressive police action, they engage in public acts of civil disobedience endangering property - but never human life. The epicenter of their national Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) is in London, where Maud Watts (played by Carey Mulligan) is a working-class wife and mother; she and husband Sonny toil at a laundry. Startled one day by a protest, Maud recognizes a co-worker, Violet Miller, among the agitators. Initially unwilling to get involved in the Suffragette cause, Maud comes to realize that she must claim her dignity both at home and in her workplace.
And she is not alone, as brave women from all walks of life have joined the fight for equality. Pharmacist Edith Ellyn (Helena Bonham Carter) and upper-class Alice Haughton (Romola Garai) coordinate WSPU grassroots efforts. Maud's commitment to the movement is tested by giving testimony before Parliament, a brutal street skirmish - and a jail stint that, while brief, alarms her husband. But her resolve is strengthened by observing Emily Wilding Davison's (Natalie Press) ability to endure prison stints - and by meeting WSPU founder Emmeline Pankhurst (Meryl Streep), who emerges from hiding with an electrifying public speech that galvanizes the Suffragettes to activism.
Maud's dedication leads her to hard choices that will change her own life forever, as she strives to effect real change for generations to come. The police step up their surveillance and harsh treatment, with Inspector Steed (Brendan Gleeson) shadowing Maud's journey at every step; ultimately, she and her fellow Suffragettes will risk their very lives to ensure that women's rights be recognized and respected.