Pieces of a Woman Best Quotes on Netflix

Starring: Vanessa Kirby, Shia LaBeouf, Ellen Burstyn, Molly Parker, Sarah Snook, Iliza Schlesinger, Benny Safdie, Jimmy Fails

OUR RATING: ★★★½

Story:

Netflix drama directed by Kornél Mundruczó. The story follows Martha and Sean Carson (Vanessa Kirby, Shia LaBeouf), a couple on the verge of parenthood whose lives change irrevocably during a home birth at the hands of a flustered midwife, Eve (Molly Parker), who faces charges of criminal negligence. Then begins a year-long odyssey for Martha, who must navigate her grief while working through fractious relationships with her husband, and her domineering mother, Elizabeth (Ellen Burstyn), along with the publicly vilified midwife whom she must face in court.

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Our Favorite Quotes:

'How can I give this pain to someone else? Someone who's already suffered? And I know she would not want that. At all. That is not why my daughter came into this world for the time that she did.' - Martha (Pieces of a Woman) Click To Tweet

Best Quotes

Robert: You need to calm down, brother.
Sean: I promised my daughter she’d be the first one to cross this bridge.
Robert: You mean, the one who hasn’t even been born yet?
Sean: That’s the one.

Robert: How is Martha?
Sean: Martha’s fine. She’s always fine.

Elizabeth: I’ve been meaning to ask, how is it you can build a bridge when you can’t tell time?
Sean: [laughs] That’s very good. Oh, that’s very funny.

Martha: [referring to Elizabeth] She likes you. She just can’t show it.
Sean: No, she doesn’t.
Martha: She did just buy us a car.
Sean: She did. But it was also a statement too. She bought the car knowing I could buy the car. She wanted to minimize me. It’s not here. Next room. That’s why she bought a minivan. She wants to emasculate me.

Sean: [referring to the car Elizabeth bought them] And she got it gray like her soul. It’s wonderful. It’s her spirit color.

Sean: [to Martha, referring to Elizabeth] The three of us matter. It’s the tribe that matters. Who cares what she thinks?

Martha: [referring to Sean’s gift of ultrasound pictures] It’s upside down.
Sean: No, that’s how I did it. It was a choice. That’s my daughter. Wonky, interesting, charming, intelligent.
Martha: Modest.
Sean: Modest, humble.

Sean: [as Martha is in labor and their midwife is unavailable] Okay. So remember we went to the prenatal meetings, and they said, “Hey, listen. We’re going to flip some cards, and maybe on the day something might not go perfectly, it might not go according to plan, things might change?”
Martha: Yes.
Sean: We’re flipping cards.

Martha: Distract me with something.
Sean: Distract you with something? Like a joke, or something?
Martha: Yeah.
Sean: A joke about something you like. What’s in the fridge? Broccoli? Broccoli is in the fridge. Broccoli’s favorite music. You know what it is? You know what broccoli’s favorite music is?
Martha: What is it?
Sean: Brock and roll.

Sean: Where does broccoli go get a drink?
Martha: Where?
Sean: At the salad bar. Come on, G. Come on!
Martha: You’re so pathetic.

Martha: You look very handsome.
Sean: Thank you.
Martha: You also look super scared.
Sean: I’m not.
Martha: Really?
Sean: Really.

Martha: You freaking out?
Sean: Not at all.
Martha: Your eyes look super like anxious.
Sean: I’m not.
Martha: Well, give me a kiss then.
Sean: You want kisses?
Martha: [Sean kisses her] Not too much.

Eva: [as Martha is experiencing labor pains] See, they come up, and then they go down, and you just ride them.
Martha: This is awful.

Sean: The heart rate’s not coming up?
Eva: It’s fine. We’ve had two consecutive contractions where the heartbeat just hasn’t come all the way back up to where I want it to. But it’s not outside the realm of normal.
Sean: What is the realm of normal?

Eva: Okay, you need to call them. Call 9-1-1. Tell them we have a home delivery, and the baby’s in distress. Okay.
Martha: What do you mean? What do you mean?
Eva: Martha, we need to get this baby out now.

Eva: [after Martha finally gives birth] I need to take her. She’s blue.
Martha, Sean: What?

Sean: Penny for your thoughts.
Martha: None.
Sean: Martha, there’s something. I know you’re worried. About this. Worried what they’re going to find.

Medical Examiner: In sixty to seventy percent of these cases, we rarely find a satisfactory explanation.
Sean: You’re a doctor, yeah? What’s your name?
Medical Examiner: Dr. Ron.
Sean: Dr. Ron. You’re a doctor, Dr. Ron. You’re a f***ing doctor.

Medical Examiner: There are certain things, medically, we just don’t have answers for. In any case, there’s already proceedings against the midwife, and there will be a medical expert opinion very soon to determine…
Sean: What about your medical expert opinion? You’re a medical expert. I mean, what do you not… You don’t know anything. You don’t know if it could have been prevented. You don’t know who’s at fault. You don’t know s**t, basically, is what you’re saying.
Medical Examiner: There are certain questions I just can’t answer at the moment.
Sean: What can you answer at the moment? What can you answer right now?
Medical Examiner: What is certain is that the proceedings have begun and there will be…
Sean: F***!

Martha: Where is she now?
Medical Examiner: She’s in the morgue.
Martha: Is it possible to donate the organs?
Medical Examiner: No. The criminal medical expert has excluded that.

Medical Examiner: Some decide to offer the body, for medical science and educational purposes. I’m very sorry for your loss.
Martha: Thank you.

Elizabeth: [referring to Martha] She needs help. She doesn’t know what she’s doing. I mean, she’s just piling mistake upon mistake. That’s why it’s our job to show her what’s right.
Sean: What does that mean?

Elizabeth: [to Sean] Don’t you want someone to answer for this monstrosity? Martha can’t sort through all of this now. That’s why I thought maybe you might take a little responsibility for a change.

Sean: We should talk about a civil case, Martha. We got to finish this. You know, I’ve come back from death before. You know, dark, cold. Really dark, really cold. And now she’s in the dark and the cold, and I can’t do anything about it, you know. My hands are sort of tied here. Please, Martha.

Sean: [crying] I miss her. I miss her! Please, Martha. I’m sorry. I just need you to promise me you won’t… You can’t send her anywhere. Please. Promise me.
Martha: I promise.

Elizabeth: Sean told me I might find you here. He’s beside himself.
Martha: You two best friends now?
Elizabeth: Well, there are things we agree on.
Martha: Does he have a choice in that?

Elizabeth: I’m not trying to change your mind. I know I can’t do that. I understand that you made up your mind to give your baby for medical research. The only thing I’m asking of you is that when it’s all over, that we get her back so we can bury her. That’s all. That’s the right thing to do, honey.
Martha: Because you say it is?
Elizabeth: Do you really want to put your little baby’s body on a mass grave like an animal?
Martha: [laughs] Oh, my God.
Elizabeth: That’s funny to you?
Martha: Yeah. So cheap.

Sean: Why are you trying to disappear my kid?
Martha: We don’t need this room, so. Because we don’t have a kid.

Sean: Yeah, I’m thinking about going to Seattle for a little while.
Martha: Seattle?
Sean: Yeah. Like a road trip. You could come with me. We could road trip. You know, we could get a cheap little, a little beater on some land. And I got friends out there that’d help me renovate. It’d be good for us, Martha. It’d be so good for us. Good for you, good for me, good change of scenery.

Anita: We’ve got to talk about mom’s condition. She’s aged five years in three months. She almost burned the house down, Martha.
Martha: Is it my fault?
Anita: Well, it doesn’t help that you don’t answer the phone when she calls to say the house is on fire.
Martha: So she sent you to meet me, right?
Anita: I don’t know why you guys do this through me.

See more Pieces of a Woman Quotes

Suzanne: [after they’ve had sex] You know, I wouldn’t worry about it. You know, people want to kill this woman. With the mistake she’s made, the case is practically won with two to eight years imprisonment. The gross negligence on not calling an ambulance in time to a dying baby should be enough to put her away.
Sean: Alright.
Suzanne: And as your criminal lawyer, with your testimony, we have this case in the bag. If you guys, you know, decide to slap her with a civil case as well, I can get someone to handle that, someone that I trust. You know, I feel like you got a good shot at winning both. And you could win millions.

Sean: [referring to the bridge painting] In the ’40s, this thing just disintegrates into the floor. It’s a big deal. You know, it’s the third biggest bridge in the US. You got the Golden Gate, George Washington, and then you got the Tacoma. In the ’40s, things collapse and they can’t figure it out, and they bring in all these experts. Mathematicians, scientists, nobody could figure it out. They’re looking at foundations, suspension wire, nothing. Everything checks out. Then finally, one of these scientists says, “Resonance.”

Sean: Resonance is, you know, every solid object has its own vibration. When the outer one matches the inner one, you get resonance. Sometimes, resonance can be so powerful, it can bring a whole bridge down.
Suzanne: Does it happen often?
Sean: No, like when swings move by themselves at the playground? That’s resonance. Thank you. For everything.
Suzanne: Here to help.

Martha: You’ve been drilling?
Sean: Yeah.
Martha: Well, I talked to Robert, and he hasn’t seen you in three weeks. So drilling what? You don’t have to lie to me. Hmm?
Sean: [looking wasted] You lied to me. You’re a f***ing liar.

Chris: The other day, the guy at the church was saying something.
Sean: The guy? The pastor?
Chris: The pastor. He was doing like a sermon. And he said something pretty deep. He said, “Time heals all wounds.”
Sean: Woh.
Chris: And I was like, “Yeah. That’s pretty good.”

Suzanne: Look, the case is already won. People hate this woman. So, I’ll just…
Elizabeth: Yes, exactly. And I don’t want them to judge you.
Martha: Them?
Elizabeth: The people.
Martha: “People.” By “people”, you mean Judith?

Martha: Who cares about what they think? This is about me. This is about my body. This is me. Do you understand that?
Elizabeth: Yes, I understand that, dear. But have you decided to go to the trial?
Martha: I’m not going to your f***ing trial.
Elizabeth: Why not, honey? She has to pay for her incompetence.

Martha: Is this about money?
Elizabeth: No!
Martha: Is it about what people think?
Elizabeth: It’s about you. It’s about you having to face this thing.
Martha: I am facing this! I am facing it! I am facing this!
Elizabeth: Well, I don’t think you are. We need some justice here.
Martha: No. You need. That is what you want. That is what you need. That is your way! That is not my way! That is what you need!

Elizabeth: Martha, if you had done it my way, you’d be holding your baby in your arms right now.
Martha: You know what? You’re ashamed. You’re so ashamed of me! You’re ashamed because I failed! “Oh, what a disgrace! Oh, what a disgrace!” I failed!
Elizabeth: Yes.
Martha: You’re f***ing ashamed!
Elizabeth: And I’m ashamed of me. That I wasn’t a good enough mother to teach you how to stand up and speak for yourself, for God’s sakes. And to deal with this. Like my mother taught me.

Elizabeth: After my father went into the ghetto, my mother found a shack. An empty shack, that she went into, and gave birth to me. Without any help at all. She stashed me under the floorboards when she had to go out and steal food, so she could make milk enough to keep me alive, but just alive. Not strong enough to cry, or we’d be caught. When she finally got me to a doctor, he advised her to just let me go. That I wasn’t strong enough to survive. But when she absolutely insisted, he picked me up by my feet, and held me up like a chicken, and said, “If she tries to lift her head, then there’s hope.” And you know what I did, Martha? I lifted my head.

Elizabeth: [to Martha] That’s what I’m asking you to do now. Lift your head and fight for yourself, for God’s sakes! Go out there and face that woman. Tell her what it’s like for you now, what this feels like. You have to do this, Martha. You have to speak your truth. Otherwise, you’re never going to be able to deal with this. You’re never going to be able to move on. You’ve got to move on past this, Martha.

Elizabeth: I never liked you. And it’s not because you’re poor.
Sean: No, it’s because I’m, because I’m not an intellectual, and I’m not, I don’t use big words. And because I’m rough, and I’m… Well, here’s a Scrabbleword. Because I’m boorish.

Elizabeth: What do you want?
Sean: What do I want? I want to, I probably want to go home. Yeah, that’s what I want the most.
Elizabeth: And why don’t you?
Sean: We don’t all live like this, you know?
Elizabeth: [gives him a check] Take it, and don’t come back. Just tell Martha, tell her anything you want. Tell her your father’s sick, or you fell in love with somebody else. I don’t care what. But just make sure she knows you are never coming back.

Sean: You a cat or a dog person?
Suzanne: Cat person.
Sean: Yeah?
Suzanne: Mm-hmm.
Sean: I’m a cat person too.
Suzanne: Bulls**t.

Sean: You know what a cat’s favorite breakfast food is?
Suzanne: What?
Sean: Mice Krispies.
[they both laugh]
Suzanne: Oh, you are far too entertained by that.

Sean: I wish we’d met earlier, you know.
Suzanne: Yeah, same.

Suzanne: [at Eva’s trial] Did she ever communicate to you explicitly that a lowered heart rate could mean that the baby was in distress and that this could cause her death?
Martha: She didn’t say that to me, no.
Suzanne: If you knew about the risk, would you have demanded to go to the hospital?
Martha: Of course I would have wanted to know that.

Suzanne: [at Eva’s trial] Would you ever willingly harm your baby?
Martha: Of course not.
Suzanne: No. So if in one of the most difficult moments of your life, during a difficult labor, the woman who you’ve decided to put your trust in, who’s been present at hundreds of births, has far more experience than you do, turns to you and says, “You must go to the hospital right now,” would you have gone in? Yes or no?
Martha: Yes, I would have.

Lane: May I ask you why you decided on a home birth?
Martha: I wanted the baby to decide when she wanted to come.

Lane: And do you trust your husband?
Martha: My partner?
Lane: Yes.
Martha: Yes, I do. did.
Lane: Well, because your partner has given testimony that your midwife strongly advised that you should go to the hospital. Now, you say you’re working together, as a team. And when your partner asked you to go to the hospital, you refused to go. Is that correct? Is that correct?
Martha: I wanted to stay at home myself.

Lane: What did you feel when you were holding your baby?
Martha: How did I feel?
Lane: Yes, how did you feel holding your baby you had just given birth to?
Martha: She smelled like an apple.
Lane: She smelled like an apple. “What did she feel?” was the question. Did she feel like a healthy baby?
Martha: She did.

Martha: [referring to Eva] This woman did not intentionally harm my girl. She only wanted to deliver a healthy baby that night. And I do not think it is your fault. I do not think it is her fault. And thank you. There might be a reason for what happened, but we are not going to find it here in this room. And if I stand here, and ask for compensation, or money, then I’m saying that I can be compensated, and I can’t. I can’t bring her back. No money, or verdicts, or sentences can bring back what… How can I give this pain to someone else? Someone who’s already suffered? And I know she would not want that. At all. That is not why my daughter came into this world for the time that she did. And that is all I have to say. Thank you.

Lucianna: [years later, after Martha helps her daughter climb down an apple tree] I’m hungry. What’s for dinner?
Martha: It’s your favorite.
Lucianna: Popsicle?
Martha: Mm-mm.
Lucianna: Tacos?
Martha: No.
Lucianna: Jelly sandwich?
Martha: Definitely not.
Lucianna: Popcorn?
Martha: Mm-mm.
Lucianna: Then I’m not hungry.
Martha: You want to run in?

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