One audience review describes The Children Act as “a thoroughly gripping film, both beautiful and profoundly moving” — a fitting precursor to the 2017 drama.
With a screenplay penned by Ian McEwan, The Children Act is based on McEwan’s 2014 novel of the same name. Directed by Richard Eyre, the rousing drama stars Dame Emma Thompson — also famous for her cheeky moment with Prince William — Stanley Tucci, and Fionn Whitehead in the lead, supported by Ben Chaplin, Jason Watkins, Nikki Amuka-Bird, and Anthony Calf. The movie had its world premiere at the 42nd Toronto International Film Festival in September 2017.
With a 74 per cent Rotten Tomatoes approval rating on the review aggregator site, The Children Act is a story about High Court Judge Fiona May (Thompson), whose marriage to Jack Maye (Tucci) is on the brink of collapse owing to her utter devotion to her civil servant job.
She is then handed the case of a 17-year-old boy, Adam Henry (Whitehead), who is suffering from leukaemia and needs a life saving blood transfusion, but refuses to undergo the procedure on account of being a Jehovah’s Witness.
In an interview with NPR, Thompson spoke about preparing to play a judge on screen in The Children Act and revealed her method, saying: “Well, I mean, I’m sure everybody’s got different ways. But I went and watched judges at work.
“And one of the first things I noticed was that mostly the women listened. They listened with a peculiar muscularity and intention as though listening with their whole bodies rather than just their ears. They are working at a level I just found overwhelmingly impressive.”
The film was fairly well received by critics, with one reviewer saying: “This is a powerful and unusually grown-up British drama, tackling issues of individual freedom, life and death, sex and religion.”
Post the movie’s release, praise for Tucci and Thompson ran abound, with one critic writing: “The players are excellent, with Tucci at his very best and Thompson delivering one of her greatest performances yet – which, in a career like hers, is really saying something.”
And others couldn’t get enough of Thompson, with a third critic commenting: “The Children Act is a mature and thoughtful film that is, above all, a wonderful showcase for a brilliant Emma Thompson.”
Audiences too, were left pretty impressed, with one viewer stating: “I read Ian McEwan’s brilliant book some years ago and this masterpiece truly brings it to life. It really is a powerful and mesmerising film. But the stand out aspect is Emma Thompson’s acting – literally off the scale. Even the scoring cues and background music are beautiful. True QUALITY.”
While one viewer was left heavily impacted by the film in real life: “Devastating examination of characters… This film had such a big impact on me that I literally decided to change the direction of my legal career. Thank you for this masterpiece.”
Currently available to watch for free on BBC iPlayer, The Children Act is departing from the streaming platform on July 9. The film is also available to stream on Netflix.