The plotline of Women Talking is an example of three-act structure which can be broken down into four acts.

Act One: Upon discovering the men have been using horse tranquilizer to make women unconscious in order to them, some of the assailants are arrested. The men leave to post bail for those men. They will be gone for two days. The women take a vote with three options: Stay and fight. Escape. Do nothing. There is a tie between the first two. The women decide on a group of 11 members to gather in the barn loft and talk it out to come to a consensus what to do.

Act Two Part A: The women air their perspectives and the representatives of those who want to stay and fight exhibit much anger about what has happened to them. For the first half of the second act, the general feeling is that this group may win the day, but ...

Act Two Part B: The women who espouse escaping provide calmer, more thoughtful arguments. One by one, the stay and fight group change their perspectives to escape.

Act Three: The escape.

There are a few twists and turns. For example, one of the men comes back early to pick up more bail money. He viciously assaults his wife. That confirms the women are right to escape.

Another twist: Salome tranquilizes her son Aaron and includes him in the group which is escaping, even though he had resisted leaving.

But the overall trajectory aligns with a three-act structure of which Act Two can be broken down into two parts.

Tomorrow: Characters.