X
  • 2019
  • R
  • Film Movement
  • 1 h 36 m
  • 2019
  • R
  • Film Movement
  • 1 h 36 m

Summary In 19th century rural Vietnam, 14-year-old May becomes the third wife of wealthy landowner Hung. Soon she learns that she can only gain status by asserting herself as a woman who can give birth to a male child. May’s hope to change her status turns into a real and tantalizing possibility when she gets pregnant. Faced with forbidden love ...

Directed By: Ash Mayfair

Written By: Ash Mayfair

  • 2019
  • R
  • Film Movement
  • 1 h 36 m
  • 2019
  • R
  • Film Movement
  • 1 h 36 m

The Third Wife

Metascore Generally Favorable Based on 13 Critic Reviews
71
User Score Generally Favorable Based on 7 User Ratings
7.7
My Score
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Where to Watch

Summary In 19th century rural Vietnam, 14-year-old May becomes the third wife of wealthy landowner Hung. Soon she learns that she can only gain status by asserting herself as a woman who can give birth to a male child. May’s hope to change her status turns into a real and tantalizing possibility when she gets pregnant. Faced with forbidden love ...

Directed By: Ash Mayfair

Written By: Ash Mayfair

Where to Watch

Top Cast

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Critic Reviews

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Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 13 Critic Reviews
71
85% Positive
11 Reviews
15% Mixed
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews

Critic Reviews

 View All
Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 13 Critic Reviews
71
85% Positive
11 Reviews
15% Mixed
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
100
May 13, 2019
This is the rare debut that derives its freshness not from inexperience but from a balance between compassion and restraint that most filmmakers take decades to achieve.
By Jessica Kiang FULL REVIEW
83
May 13, 2019
It’s a mesmerizing look behind a curtain torn away so Mayfair can reveal an authenticity too often masked by historical precedent and conservative acquiescence. Love is created in rebellion, but ultimately stifled by the need for survival.
By Jared Mobarak FULL REVIEW

User Reviews

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User Score
Generally Favorable Based on 7 User Ratings
7.7
71% Positive
5 Ratings
29% Mixed
2 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings

User Reviews

 View All
User Score
Generally Favorable Based on 7 User Ratings
7.7
71% Positive
5 Ratings
29% Mixed
2 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings

There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.

80
May 13, 2019
If this focus on fleeting pleasures occasionally risks exoticizing the subject, Mayfair’s sensory approach to illustrating an almost unbearable absence of female fulfillment achieves a powerful universal resonance.
By John Berra FULL REVIEW
75
Jun 24, 2019
Some viewers may want delicacy in a period film about women navigating a world in which they’ve been pitted against one another. But maybe, Mayfair suggests, we need the blunt reminder: The issues that women were confronting in the Vietnam of the 1800s — a world in which they’re considered property more than people — aren’t all that different from today.
FULL REVIEW
75
May 13, 2019
Mayfair’s The Third Wife is a powerful reminder that the oppression of women is not strictly a Western problem and everyone—women or men—want to be free to choose their own path in life.
By Alan Ng FULL REVIEW
63
Jul 5, 2019
It’s a strong story with devastating implications, but also one told at an artistic remove that renders its meanings less subtle than diminished. There’s a fury underlying this film that goes unexpressed to the point of almost going unacknowledged, and it saps The Third Wife of a strength and momentum it could use. If Ash Mayfair ever taps into that fury, she may become a filmmaker to reckon with.
By Ty Burr FULL REVIEW
50
May 13, 2019
Mayfair's picture feels like the work of a seasoned veteran rather than a newcomer, but this isn't necessarily a compliment. It's sensitively poetic and tremulously delicate to a fault, with every beat seemingly accompanied and underlined by an intrusive score from Ton That An which is heavily freighted with plangent strings and mournful piano notes.
By Neil Young FULL REVIEW
See All 13 Critic Reviews

Details

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Production Company An Nam Productions, Mayfair Pictures, Three Colors Productions
Release Date May 15, 2019
Duration 1 h 36 m
Rating R
Genres
Website https://bongngo.online/phim/vo-ba
View All Details

Awards

Film Independent Spirit Awards
• 3 Nominations
Asian Film Festival Barcelona
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
Cairo International Film Festival
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations

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