Call Jane

Call Jane is a 2022 American drama film starring Elizabeth Banks as a suburban housewife in the 1960s who deals with a life-threatening pregnancy and subsequently joins the Jane Collective, an underground network of abortion activists. The film also stars Sigourney Weaver, Chris Messina, Kate Mara, Wunmi Mosaku, Cory Michael Smith, Grace Edwards, and John Magaro. It is directed by Phyllis Nagy. The screenplay was written by Hayley Schore and Roshan Sethi.

It premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival on January 21, 2022. It was released in the United States on October 28, 2022, by Roadside Attractions.

Synopsis
Joy, a traditional housewife in the United States in the 1960s, learns that she is pregnant with a second child but that the pregnancy threatens her life. After her hospital’s all-male board denies her request for an abortion, she becomes involved with the Jane Collective, a Chicago underground women's network that took risks to help women secure safe, illegal abortions, beginning in the late 1960s and stopping only in 1973 with the Roe v. Wade decision.

Production
The script originally appeared on the 2017 Black List, where it received seven votes. Coincidentally, another script based on the same story, titled This is Jane by Daniel Loflin, was also featured on the same Black List, with nine votes.

It was announced in October 2020 that Elizabeth Banks, Sigourney Weaver, Kate Mara and Rupert Friend had been cast to star in the film. Elisabeth Moss and Susan Sarandon had been initially cast as Joy and Virginia respectively, but both had to exit due to scheduling conflicts. In May 2021, Chris Messina, Cory Michael Smith, Aida Turturro, Wunmi Mosaku, Grace Edwards, and Bianca D'Ambrosio joined the cast of the film, with Friend no longer attached.

The film was shot in West Hartford, Connecticut from May and June 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Release
It premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival on January 21, 2022. On February 4, 2022, Roadside Attractions acquired the film's distribution rights, with plans to release it theatrically in the fall. It was released on October 28, 2022.

The film was released for VOD on December 6, 2022, followed by a Blu-ray and DVD release on December 13, 2022.

The film partnered with Planned Parenthood and the Abortion Care Network to screen at dozens of American clinics. In a statement by Nagy, the director hoped that screenings would serve as an opportunity to increase awareness around direct abortion care services in the months following the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

Reception
On its opening weekend, Call Jane grossed $243,922.