Through individual interviews, a composite image forms of a society touched on every level by half its population’s lack of bodily autonomy.

| Dec 14, 2022

You don’t watch The Janes for aesthetic pleasure. The palette is sober, and the filmmaking itself is recalcitrant, in service always of its tremendous story. But there is one moment I found indelible...

| Dec 8, 2022

The lesson from The Janes is that, in the absence of justice and political power, there's enormous potential for collective action.

| Jun 30, 2022

The real power of the documentary lies... in the interviews it features with some of the women who were involved with the organization and who helped make this safe abortion access possible and available to the women of Chicago.

| Jun 17, 2022

In this sobering HBO documentary, the group members recall their achievements with admirable candor and great heart.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jun 11, 2022

Directors Tia Lessin and Emma Pildes permeate "The Janes" with unforced wry humor that adds a triumphant glow to a story that other filmmakers may have presented as a grim struggle.

| Jun 10, 2022

What really resonates are the memories of women helping women by talking openly about the specific economic and health concerns that the male-dominated establishment typically ignored.

| Jun 10, 2022

Even if you’re well versed in the history of Roe v. Wade, this film will likely shock you. Especially given that half a century later, the cultural, religious and political war over abortion still rages.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 9, 2022

Cookie-cutter though it is, “The Janes” does have something going for it: its interview subjects, the former Janes, who all speak about their beliefs and shared past with striking clarity.

| Jun 9, 2022

It’s a gripping historical document, regardless of where one stands on the central argument.

| Jun 8, 2022

Lessin and Pildes do a masterful job of putting the Janes in historical context, seeing how their desire to offer safe abortions grew out of the revolutionary ’60s and yet how women’s issues were often deemed secondary to male-led efforts.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jun 8, 2022

This is a beyond-timely look at the past, with an eye very much on the near future.

| Jun 8, 2022

Not only a crucial part of the historical record but a searingly contemporary film about the power of mutual aid and collective action.

| Jun 8, 2022

It’s a very fine film, and Chicago history that joined a long history of Chicago dissent.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jun 8, 2022

It's so good and unfortunately more timely than ever.

| Jun 7, 2022

Newspaper headlines, old footage of political/social marches and clips of the younger women back in the day fill in the details of these strong-willed advocates.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 11, 2022

It’s hard not to come away a little bit in love with the now 60- and 70-something women of Jane, who give this documentary its backbone through lively, sharp talking head interviews about the risky yet empowering work that defined their young lives.

| Original Score: B+ | Jan 30, 2022

These women were outlaws. They were also heroes, and it's high time more people recognized them as such. The Janes is a great start.

| Jan 28, 2022

A peppy history lesson of [the JANE Collective's] heroism.

| Jan 28, 2022

There isn't an unmemorable interview in the film.

| Jan 28, 2022