The legal protection of minors is at the center of Richard Eyre’s thought-provoking British drama, adapted by Ian McEwan from his own 2014 novel. Emma Thompson stars as Fiona Maye, a judge called on to oversee cases stemming from the 1989 Children Act, which specifies that a court will decide matters pertaining to the well-being of individuals under the age of 17, overriding even parental preferences. She is assigned the case of Adam (Fionn Whitehead), a 17-year-old whose leukemia, according to doctors, will kill him without a blood transfusion. Adam and his parents are Jehovah’s Witnesses, and their faith forbids transfusion since a person’s blood is thought to be the carrier of the soul. Fiona considers their objections, and then takes the unusual step of visiting the patient in the hospital. After she decides to order the transfusion, the recovered Adam becomes fixated with her, a benign stalker despite her insistence that he should understand that the case is closed and get on with his life. The overall tension is increased because the childless Fiona is simultaneously facing the collapse of her marriage with her husband (Stanley Tucci). The Children Act is an engrossing film right up through its wrenching conclusion, particularly due to Thompson’s wonderfully shaded performance—easily her best work in years—and an equally nuanced turn by Whitehead. Highly recommended. (F. Swietek)
The Children Act
Lionsgate, 106 min., R, DVD: $19.99, Nov. 13 Volume 34, Issue 1
The Children Act
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