Skip to main content
film review
Open this photo in gallery:

Emma Thompson and Fionn Whitehead in The Children Act.Entertainment One

  • The Children Act
  • Directed by Richard Eyre
  • Written by Ian McEwan
  • Starring Emma Thompson
  • Classification 14A; 105 minutes

Rating:

2.5 out of 4 stars

What should take preference: the laws of society or the tenets of a religion? When should a child be granted permission to make “adult” decisions? Do beliefs trump facts?

In this smart, if sentimental, adaptation of Ian McEwan’s 2014 novel of the same name, Emma Thompson plays a British High Court Judge tasked with rendering a decision with, literally, life and death consequences: whether a 17-year-old Jehovah’s Witness (Dunkirk’s Fionn Whitehead) should be forced to receive a blood transfusion, against his will, that will potentially save his life.

While Whitehead, as a young man torn between the teachings of his church and the untapped possibilities of adulthood, delivers a performance both disturbing and touching, and Stanley Tucci exudes warmth as Thompson’s restless husband (he comes across as the world’s most-lovable philanderer), it’s Thompson who carries the film, both literally – she’s rarely off-screen – and emotionally.

The burden of this particular case weighs down almost every line of dialogue, registers in almost every expression on her face. The ending, slightly altered and more Hollywood-friendly, is one of the few aspects that doesn’t quite ring true.

The Children Act opens across Canada Sept. 14

Follow related authors and topics

Authors and topics you follow will be added to your personal news feed in Following.

Interact with The Globe