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SFFILM Festival

The Children Act

Directed by Richard Eyre

UK | 105

12 Apr
Thu, Apr 12, 2018 at 6:30 pm PT

Description

The masterful Emma Thompson delivers an exceptionally compassionate performance as Fiona May, a British High Court judge who is given a challenging case that asks her to balance deeply held religious beliefs and the state’s duty to protect children. As her own childless marriage founders, she becomes more emotionally involved with the teenage plaintiff in the legal matter before her. With his keen eye for interpersonal dynamics, Richard Eyre (Notes on a Scandal (2006), Iris (2001)) directs with crisp flair, bringing the story to vivid life. Ian McEwan beautifully adapts his own bestselling novel, and Stanley Tucci co-stars.

“Told with a depth of empathy so profound …, The Children Act is that rarest of things: an adult drama, written and interpreted with a sensitivity to mature human concerns — not just the quite personal complexities of maintaining a 30-year relationship … , but the more broad-reaching tension between the law and firmly held religious belief.” – Peter Debruge, Variety

“Thompson subsumes herself in the role, donning the Justice’s armour of black working clothes, heels, and a raincoat as she discreetly goes about her business. There’s the sense that the actress is relishing this rare opportunity to present the audience with a complex, intelligent, and commanding woman of a certain age, and never lets her character down.” – Fionnuala Halligan, Screen Daily

Director Richard Eyre

A five-time Olivier Award winner, Richard Eyre was already an acclaimed theater director by the time he made his 1983 film directing debut The Ploughman’s Lunch, which won the Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Film. After making Loose Connections in 1985, Eyre turned his attention back to theater and to television, returning to the screen in the new century with Iris (2001), Stage Beauty (2004), Notes on a Scandal (2006), The Other Man (2008), and The Children Act (2017).

Film Details

Language English

Year 2017

Premiere US

Runtime 105

Country UK

Director Richard Eyre

Producer Duncan Kenworthy

Writer Ian McEwan

Editor Dan Farrell

Cinematographer Andrew Dunn

Cast Emma Thompson, Stanley Tucci, Fionn Whitehead