Vulture
No one gives better pensive gaze here than Thompson; the drama lies in the fallibility of even the most competent and well-intentioned among us.
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The Children Act
Emma Thompson, Stanley Tucci and Fionn Whitehead star in this morally complex legal drama based on Ian McEwan’s acclaimed novel about a judge forced to determine a child’s fate.
"Judge Fiona Maye (Thompson) is married to her work, which has become a problem for her husband, Jack (Tucci), who announces that he wants to have an affair. Treating the matter more as an annoyance than a life-altering crisis, Fiona kicks Jack out and focuses on her current case. The question: should a couple who are Jehovah's Witnesses be permitted to deny a life-saving blood transfusion to their leukemia-stricken 17-year-old son (Whitehead)? Fiona finds herself taking unusual measures to determine her verdict — measures that will have far-reaching consequences." (Toronto International Film Festival)
Less2017Rating: M, Occasional coarse language105 minsUK
Drama
- Director:
- Richard Eyre ('Notes on a Scandal', 'Iris', 'Stage Beauty')
- Writer:
- Ian McEwan
- Cast:
- Emma ThompsonStanley TucciFionn WhiteheadRosie CavalieroBen ChaplinJason WatkinsNikki Amuka-BirdNicholas Jones
The Children Act | Reviews
74%112 reviewsRotten Tomatoes® Score
All reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Variety
... "The Children Act" is that rarest of things: an adult drama, written and interpreted with a sensitivity to mature human concerns...
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The New York Times
A beautifully internalised performance from Ms. Thompson and the various efforts to highlight the cinematic potential in Fiona's anguish... can't override the tidy ironies of Mr. McEwan's design.
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Stuff
This is a riposte for anyone who thinks that all the great contemporary British drama can only be found on television.
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Screen Daily
The Children Act is a cerebral piece, for sure, and a disturbing one by the end, but Thompson's performance brings life to the complex moral questions it attempts to examine.
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Rolling Stone
This film adaptation never reaches the intimate heights of Ian McEwan's novel, but Emma Thompson's portrait of a family court judge who lets the world in at the cost of losing her own judgment is acting of the highest order.
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Los Angeles Times
It's always rewarding to watch Thompson bring her lucid wit and deep emotional reserves to bear on a meaty role.
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Hollywood Reporter
The two central performances could hardly be better. Thompson works here with remarkable subtlety.
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Empire Magazine
Another reminder, if one were needed, of the subtlety and skill of Emma Thompson's stratospheric talent.
Full reviewThe Children Act | Release Details
The Children Act is available to stream in Australia now on Google Play and Apple TV and Ritz at Home and BritBox Australia.