Now streaming on Netflix, is the British biographical drama, Joy. Directed by Ben Taylor, and based on a true story, the film stars Thomasin McKenzie, James Norton, and Bill Nighy, and details the events surrounding the development of the world’s first in vitro fertilisation (IVF) baby.
In the movie, the year is 1968 and in Cambridge, nurse Jean Purdy is hired by Dr Robert Edwards to assist in his unorthodox project. Dr Edwards has plans to cure infertility, he believes he is close, but he needs help.
Together Purdy and Edwards approach obstetrician and surgeon Patrick Steptoe to join in their reproduction research. After hearing their proposal, he agrees to work with them.
The team work towards their goal of producing a test tube baby. Along the way they face opposition by those who don’t believe it is possible, and those who don’t believe it is right.
Every once in a while a movie comes along which is pretty solid. It has a good cast, an interesting story, and it is presented well.
Joy is one of those movies. The film ticks all the right boxes, it offers an insight into a story audiences are perhaps not-so familiar with, and it does it all in an effective way.
It is also a timely film. Given current issues revolving around abortion rights in the US, the movie opens up a conversation about giving women a choice when it comes to motherhood.
All three leads, McKenzie, Norton, and Nighy, are as reliable as you would expect, with McKenzie particularly strong as Purdy. Her involvement in the IVF project causes clashes with her mother as well as her church, and McKenzie conveys the conflict and personal turmoil well.
Purdy’s personal life is also brought further into the spotlight, with a look at her relationship and her stance on being a wife and mother. This is all set against the backdrop of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, and the attitudes and changing landscape of the time.
Clocking in at just under two hours, Joy is a worthwhile watch. It’s not necessarily amazing, but to reiterate what I said above, it is solid.
The film sets out to tell an important historical story and it does so with no major flaws. It’s not the most dynamic film, but it doesn’t need to be.
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