I was seriously impressed by Carey Mulligan‘s Bathsheba Everdeen in Thomas Vinterberg‘s Far From The Madding Crowd (“A woman of passion and steel spine”). I was floored by her sad soulfulness in David Hare‘s Skylight, which I saw on Broadway nine or ten weeks ago. And now I’m feeling a certain gravitas-plus from her upcoming performance as Maud in Sarah Gavron and Abi Morgan‘s Suffragette (Focus Features, 10.23), which will naturally play Venice/Telluride and probably Toronto. It’s her lower-class accent, actually; there’s something almost musical about it. And that rock-steady gaze of hers, those shrewd, evaluating eyes, that patiently simmering undercurrent. I can’t be the only one sensing a Best Actress headwind. If, that is, Suffragette turns out be an 8.5 or better. I don’t know how much campaigning she’ll be able to do considering her pregnancy, but the stars seem to be aligning in her favor.

The song in the trailer (which popped last month) is a cover of “Landslide” by Robyn Sherwell.