SINGLED [OUT]

In light of recent global events, it’s funny to think that not too long ago, somewhere at the top of a woman’s Things To Worry About list was being single over the age of 30. Oh, to live in such a simpler time again, even if it was, like, only 18 months ago. Well, for a mere 69 minutes of your life, you can time travel with the documentary ‘Singled [Out]’.

This film takes a look inside the lives of five women from different parts of the world: Australia, Turkey, Spain and China. All successful, highly educated, driven, over 30 and, of course, single. Each woman allows the audience to glimpse the family and societal pressures they’re under to marry and start a family, a pressure that’s strong enough to possibly compromise their own wishes, plans and ideals. It’s fascinating to watch that, despite cultural differences, language and differing upbringings, all women have arrived at the same question: Why? Why do I need a man? The woman from Turkey even points out that everyone around her tells her that she needs a man for protection, but when women everyday are being killed by their husbands, fathers and family, doesn't that man she invites into her life possibly and ultimately end up being the one she needs protection from?

Interlaced with these stories is expert opinion introducing the ideas - that today’s women want a man that doesn’t yet exist, while traditional men want a woman that no longer exists, and that love itself has evolved over the generations, not just its practitioners.

Woman are complicated and layered, and as much as we hate to admit it or fight it, bound by tradition, culture and our nature to care and nurture, so our choices between career and children, marriage and family is often complicated beyond comprehension. Or at least, more complicated than 69 minutes allows for a satisfactory conclusion or understanding.

‘Singled [Out]’ is not an in-depth study or observation, it is merely a glimpse. I think it's an interesting concept and one that deserves a deeper exploration than what’s offered here. It's a film it suffers from a few too many subtitling mistakes for my liking and really needed a powerhouse editor and killer researcher, but it’s still a nice jumping off point for it viewers to use to then go and delve into this new phenomenon of the single lady.