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The Children Act

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The Children Act

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Summary

Drama starring Emma Thompson and Stanley Tucci. High Court judge Fiona Maye is given a particularly difficult case - a Jehovah's Witness teenager who refuses a life-saving blood transfusion - at the same time that her husband announces his intention to have an affair.

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Review

A star rating of 4 out of 5.

Trevor Johnston

Emma Thompson stars as a High Court judge whose private life starts to veer off-course in this drama adapted by Ian McEwan from his 2014 novel of the same name. She and her husband, a lecturer in classics (finely played by Stanley Tucci), are a childless couple sharing a flat in prestigious Gray's Inn, where the demands of numerous morally complex cases subsume her time and energy. He's beginning to stray from the faithful path, impacting on her seemingly rational approach to life and love - which starts to unravel during a testing case where a teenage Jehovah's Witness (Dunkirk star Fionn Whitehead) refuses life-saving blood transfusions on religious grounds. Directed with impeccable precision by Richard Eyre (Iris), McEwan's tale becomes a mesmerising showcase for arguably the finest performance of Emma Thompson's storied career, as she delineates the subtle cracks appearing in the poised demeanour of a successful woman wrong-footed by feelings she's tried to compartmentalise. It's a remarkable, literate, nuanced film that refuses to play to the gallery but, like the Bach keyboard music on its soundtrack, finds palpable emotion lurking just below a seemingly ordered surface.

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6.7/10

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Credits

Cast

rolenameFiona MayeEmma ThompsonJack MayeStanley TucciAdam HenryFionn WhiteheadKevin HenryBen ChaplinNigel PaulingJason WatkinsSherwood RuncieRupert VansittartMarina GreenRosie CavalieroAmadia KaluNikki Amuka-Bird

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Crew

rolenameDirectorRichard Eyre

Details

Theatrical distributor

Entertainment One

Released on

2018-08-24

Languages

English

Guidance

Swearing

Formats

Colour

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