AT a time when only 50% of the population's opinions mattered, one group of individuals fought for change.

Foot soldiers of the early feminist movement, the Suffragettes, were willing to lose everything in their fight for equality - their jobs, their homes, their family and their lives.

Fast forward to present day and the right to vote has become, for many, a 'ho-hum' affair - I might even go as far as saying an 'inconvenience' for some that 'ruins a perfectly good weekend for doing other things'.

It's saddening to think that everything these women once fought for has become something many women take for granted these days.

A film such as this really puts things into perspective.

Directed by Sarah Gavron, Suffragette tracks the story of the early feminist movement, women who were forced underground to pursue a dangerous game of cat and mouse with an increasingly brutal State.

Majority of these women were working class who had seen peaceful protests achieve nothing.

Feeling like there was no other way to attract attention and have their voices heard, the Suffragettes turned to violence, destroying public property and breaking the law in the fight for equality.

The movie is told mainly through Maud Watts' (Carey Mulligan) eyes.

The story of her fight for dignity is nothing short of gripping, heart-breaking and inspirational.

What's more, the film swings your emotions like a pendulum, from one side of the fence to the other.

The opposite side of the feminist movement (ie; the males) shows variance from dominant, ignorant and oppressing, to the more bilateral balance (ie: Maud's husband Sonny played by Ben Whishaw) who loves his wife and child and simply does not want to see his family endangered by Maud's growing involvement with the Suffragettes.

The struggle continues for many who are yet to win the fight for equality; be it race, gay rights.

It has been more than a century since Australian women were made equal to men in voting.

It's worth sparing a thought for those fighting their own battle.

It's worth also sparing a thought of gratitude for how far we've come, and those who sacrificed so much to give us what we more than often take for granted today.

It would be nothing short of a disgrace to let their efforts die in vain.

Suffragette

Starring: Anne-Marie Duff, Grace Stottor, Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham Carter, Ben Whishaw, Geoff Bell.

Rated: M

Reviewer: Tamara MacKenzie

Verdict: 4.5 out of 5 broken windows

Winning the vote for women around the world:

1893 - New Zealand

1902 - Australia

1906 - Finland

1913 - Norway

1915 - Denmark and Iceland

1917 - Canada

1918 - The United Kingdom, Germany, Russian Federation, Hungary, Ireland (limited), Latvia, Poland, Estonia

1919 - Netherlands and Belgium

1920 - United States of America, Czech Republic, Iceland

1928 - United Kingdom

1930 - Turkey, South Africa (whites)

1931 - Spain Sri Lanka

1932 - Brazil, Thailand, Uruguay

1938 - Bolivia

1949 - China

1951 - Nepal

1956 - Pakistan

1963 - Afghanistan

1971 - Switzerland

1980 - Iraq, Vanuatu

1994 - South Africa (blacks)

2005 - Kuwait

2015 - Saudi Arabia promised women the right to vote