‘Joy’ Review: Thomasin McKenzie Charms In This Earnest British Fertility Drama – London Film Festival
deadline.comThe events leading up to July 1978 and the birth in Manchester of the world’s first “test tube baby” — the tabloid term for the process known more soberly as I.V.F. (in vitro fertilization) — are fascinating by any metric.
It’s a story of determination, skill and genuine genius, focusing on three modest and largely unsung heroes driven in the main by a spirit of pure human kindness.
Fascinating as that is, however, Ben Taylor’s warm, intelligent and never less than respectful movie, which received its world premiere at the London Film Festival this week, struggles to harness the same kind of lightning that science did.
Ostensibly an ensemble piece, Joy is actually a vehicle for the charming Thomasin McKenzie, the young New Zealand actress who broke out in 2018’s Leave No Trace and makes a welcome return to drama here.
Read more on deadline.com
