🚨 A forgotten British drama is quietly becoming the movie everyone is talking about — with Emma Thompson delivering one of the most powerful performances of her career.
Stanley Tucci and Fionn Whitehead also star.
If you fancy watching a British drama tonight and happen to have this particular UK streaming service, then The Children Act may be the film for you. Starring Emma Thompson and Jason Watkins, the drama was called “gripping” by critics.
The film is directed by Richard Eyre and written by Ian McEwan, the latter of whom adapts his 2014 novel of the same name. The plot sees Thompson portray Fiona Maye, a judge who finds herself in the middle of a life-changing case.
It concerns Adam Henry, a 17-year-old boy who needs a life-saving blood transfusion after being diagnosed with leukaemia. With her marriage to Jack already at breaking point, Fiona begins to feel the weight of the case.
Who’s in The Children Act?
• Emma Thompson as Fiona Maye
• Stanley Tucci as Jack Maye
• Fionn Whitehead as Adam Henry
• Jason Watkins as Nigel Pauling
• Ben Chaplin as Kevin Henry
• Nikki Amuka-Bird as Amadia Kalu
• Eileen Walsh as Naomi Henry
• Rupert Vansittart as Sherwood Runcie
What did critics say about The Children Act?
The legal drama was generally praised by critics upon its theatrical release in 2018, with Rotten Tomatoes currently reporting a solid approval rating of 74% from 112 reviews. The audience score is slightly lower, at 65%.
“The Children Act feels utterly of a piece with the original book: urbane, understated, handsomely realised and impeccably interpreted by a cast of superb actors,” noted The Washington Post, while Sight & Sound called it “heartbreaking” and “nuanced”.
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“The Children Act is that rarest of things: an adult drama, written and interpreted with a sensitivity to mature human concerns,” opined Variety, while Herald Sun called it a “gripping adaptation” of McEwan’s novel.
IndieWire was also full of praise, writing: “Like so many of the movies that stem from McEwan’s novels, The Children Act is a soulful and sophisticated adult drama that peers into the void between the beauty of ideals and the cost of living by them.”
Where can I watch The Children Act?
The film is currently streaming in the UK on Lionsgate+, a subscription-based service which can be acquired as an add-on channel for Prime Video. You can currently get a seven-day free trial, before it costs £4.99 per month.
Other Emma Thompson movies you can stream now
If you already have Prime Video, then you can stream The Sheep Detectives, Carrington, King Lear and Johnny English Strikes Again. Chilly action-thriller Dead of Winter, meanwhile, is on Paramount+.
If you want to watch the iconic actor in Bridget Jones’s Baby and Mad About the Boy, then you’ll need either Sky Cinema or NOW, while Nanny McPhee and its sequel Nanny McPhee & the Big Bang are on ITVX.
The Children Act is streaming on Lionsgate+.
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