Sarah Gavron’s Suffragette takes us back to London in 1912, an important time in history when the women in Britain began a civil rights movement to earn the vote. The film, written by Abi Morgan, is also unveiled at a prominent time in the Unites States when women are standing up for recognition and pay equal to their male counterparts.

Gavron picked an excellent cast for this film. Carey Mulligan plays the lead role, Maud Watts.  Maud has followed the footsteps of her mother, working in a laundry where the women are treated harshly and made to work harder than any man would in the same situation. They are also exposed to sexual harassment from their bosses.

Maud works herself to a frazzle at the factory and also has to maintain a home, care for her husband Sonny (Ben Whishaw) and their young son George (Adam Michael Dodd). The more Maud accepts her status, the more she daydreams. Walking past shop windows filled with pretty clothes or manikins featured in fun and exciting places makes her sad.

At one point, Maud is walking down the street when a girl throws rocks at the store windows -- and she ends up running along with her in order not to be blamed for the crime. A little at a time Maud gets drawn into a group known as the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU). Maud is brought in by other women who have joined founder Emmeline Pankhurst (played in only a few scenes by Meryl Streep.)

Maud begins to attend secret meetings in the offices of pharmacist Edith Ellyn (Helena Bonham Carter). She also starts to stand up against her boss or men like Inspector Steed (Brendan Gleeson), who wants to bring down the WSPU.

It’s rough to see the torture these brave women went through during their fight to vote, and the actresses create such compelling characters it’s humbling. An especially poignant scene involves Emily Wilding Davison (Natalie Press) enduring a pivotal moment at the Epsom Derby on June 4, 1913.

While the actors are all superb in this film, it feels like something is missing. The drama doesn’t seem to be hyped sufficiently, and we don’t know enough about the women attending the meetings to really care about them.  Even when Maud stands steadfast in her participation with illegal and perilous stunts, and lets her co-worker, Violet Miller (Anne-Marie Duff), talk her into dangerous speeches, Maud rarely stops to think how this will impact her son if she goes to jail.

Because most scenes have a gray dusty look, the cinematography could have been better. I think the 2004 TV movie Ironed Jawed Angels -- concerning the 1917 American Women’s Suffrage movement and starring Hilary Swank, Margo Martindale, Angelica Huston, Vera Farmiga, and Frances O'Connor -- far exceeds Suffragette in terms of drama and compassion about this historic movement.

(Released by Focus Features and rated “R” for language.)

Review also posted at www.reviewexpress.com.