The Third Wife

"A quietly gripping, thoughtfully sensual and culturally specific tale of womanhood in all its complications."

"This is a gorgeously shot, yet unflinching (although not prurient) look at a young woman attempting to survive and thrive in difficult and repressive conditions. It's a film that is more Pretty Baby than Memoirs of a Geisha – and all the better for it."

"Nguyen is entrancing in the title role, carrying the full weight of the production on her slight shoulders, as she evolves from naive waif to erudite young mother before our eyes."

"The Third Wife is more or less upfront about the element of sado-masochistic fantasy built into the scenario, oddly fused with the charm of a rural idyll."

"Gently dipping us into the long ago and far away past, Ash Mayfair's directorial debut brings an intimate immediacy to the re-creation of rural Vietnam in the late 19th century."

"The movie is... trapped in the same claustrophobia it depicts, unsure of how much it can or wants to get away with."

"The almost entirely female cast is captivating throughout."

"There is much that is finely wrought here as a tactile slice of women's history told in careful observances, hidden textures and the sights and sounds of nature unbound."

"An audience-friendly affair which deals with harrowing subject-matter in restrained, tactful and aesthetically entrancing style..."