Period. End of Sentence – Netflix Documentary Review

A Powerful, Straight Forward Message

Championing a group of Indian females in their fight for equality, Period End Of Sentence is an eye-opening documentary designed to shed light on the taboo subject of menstruation in India. From a lack of knowledge to outright embarrassment, Period is a timely documentary, designed to bring confidence and self-awareness to women who have long been relegated to the shadows regarding topics like this.

At a run time of 25 minutes, this documentary is a fleeting experience at best but its message no less important. In India, the idea of menstruation and periods are not common-place knowledge and as the early parts of this documentary point out, the general populous are not fully clued up on this important and natural occurrence. Step forward a group of forward thinking women in a rural village outside Delhi. These women pave the way for others to follow as they aim to educate women and provide them with safe sanitary products going forward.

With real life accounts from women in India and a dual-focus on both the men and women’s attitude toward what this group are trying to accomplish, there’s a good, balanced viewpoint expressed here. While there isn’t anything particularly outstanding here, at least on a technical level at least, there’s enough thought and care put into this to make it a very important subject to discuss. Ultimately it’s this awareness that forms the crux of the film’s message and it’s partly the reason Period. End Of Sentence is as effective as it is. It’s a very simple short film with a straight forward approach. It’s also one that doesn’t need glitzy editing or compositional gimmicks to get its themes across.

While it would have been nice to have something a little longer in length, especially with some exploration into the backstories of each of the women, it’s a minor point and not something that takes anything away from this documentary film. While it’s unlikely to be a film remembered for years to come, it is a powerful one nonetheless and one that’s no less clear or hard hitting despite this.