This story is based on a 2016 novel by Emma Donoghue. I have not read the book. However, I enjoy historical fiction movies as well as reading historical fiction novels. So, I decided to take a look.
This story has an odd framing to it. It starts and ends on a movie set, where the narrator tells you that it’s a story and you just need to believe. I found this to be unnecessary. What else are movies and stories other than something that draws you in so compellingly that you believe?
I’ve read that this story, although set in the 1800s, is based upon girls who starved themselves in the 1500s. It’s not necessary to know this in order to watch and as the narrator compels you to do–believe.
The movie is slow. Achingly slow. There are a number of scenes where you watch the nurse eating alone, thinking. But if you stick with it, the story draws you in to the mystery of whether or not the girl is living without any kind of nourishment as is claimed. The nurse is supposed to just watch the girl to see whether or not this is a miracle or a trick. You wonder, also.
Then, the story gives its explanation and the most important aspect of the story in my mind–why the girl is refusing food.
The ending of the story is satisfying, until we again go back to the framing of the movie set. I personally would have liked to have not had the framing element. It’s not that I don’t appreciate a good framing device, but this had no reasoning behind it (in my mind) except perhaps to make the movie a little longer. Perhaps that’s why it was so very slow in parts–to draw it out to movie length.
Again, I haven’t read the book. It would be interesting to read just to see if and how the author kept the reader hooked throughout.
It’s an interesting concept and I appreciated the creativity of the author. The movie was dark and slow, but after I got into it, kept my attention.
Emma Donoghue’s website is: http://www.emmadonoghue.com.
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