VANESSA’S Vision

Vanessa Kirby has never given birth, but after shooting her first lead movie role in Pieces of a Woman, she almost feels as though she has. “Whenever I see a pregnant woman now, or someone’s telling me that they’ve just given birth, I smile,” Kirby explains over Zoom, her magnetism evident even through the screen. “I feel with them.”

The days she spent shooting the opening scene for her new film could explain this, as could the thorough way Kirby, 32, immersed herself in the role. Pieces of a Woman, currently streaming on Netflix, stars Kirby as Martha and Shia LaBeouf as Sean, a couple whose child dies during a home birth, leaving them to deal with the traumatic aftermath of neonatal death.

This pivotal event at the beginning of the film plays out in a 24-minute, single-take scene that starts with Martha’s first contractions and ends in tragedy. The camera follows the couple (and a midwife, Eva, played by Molly Parker),