Suffragette (12A)

THESE days it is all too easy to take our rights for granted.

But then it is startling to think that less than a century ago British women were denied a vote and a say in how their country was run.

Women were told they did not have the 'calmness of temperament or the balance of mind to exercise judgement in political affairs' and were 'well represented' in public life by their husbands, fathers and brothers.

Director Sarah Gavron's Suffragette tells the story of the women who took the matter into their own hands after 50 years of peaceful protest got them nowhere.

But really this is Carey Mulligan's film who takes the lead as Maud Watts, a young wife and mother in a struggling working class family.

Maud is the viewers' entry point into the early feminist movement as she starts out as an overworked washerwoman who does not question her place in an unbalanced society.

Around 1,000 women were jailed during this time and expect some brutal scenes to reflect this with violent arrests and force feeding.

But Meryl Streep is severely underused as suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst.

With all women gaining the right to vote between 1918 and 1928, the actions of the suffragettes cannot be overstated.

And hopefully this inspiring film will make non voters think twice on polling day.