- First teaser for Tyson Johnston’s first contact flick EXIST
- First teaser for Tyson Johnston’s first contact flick EXIST
- Producers claim documentary of Mayan underwater cities and ET contact will shake the world
- Producers claim documentary of Mayan underwater cities and ET contact will shake the world
- Sundance 2008 - Trailer for Dog Eat Dog (Perro Come Perro)
- New Horror movie: [REC]
- First teaser for Tyson Johnston’s first contact flick EXIST
- Battle for Pandora Trailer!
- Battle for Pandora Trailer!
- Trailer: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
- Re: Occupation, Australian Sci Fi movie
- Slice of Life, Blade Runner inspired short
- Is Snowpeircer a sequel to Willy Wonka?
- Re: Yesterday
- Re: Yesterday
- Yesterday
- Re: White Night (or where do I get my 30 + from now?)
- Re: White Night (or where do I get my 30 + from now?)
- Re: White Night (or where do I get my 30 + from now?)
- Re: White Night (or where do I get my 30 + from now?)
- New Blu-ray and 4K Releases [January 31, 2023]
- MAD MAX: HOPE AND GLORY Short Film Funding on Kickstarter
- Dawn of the Dead 4K Coming in January!
- Here's What's New on Blu-ray and 4K this Week! [October 18, 2022]
- Sony Released A Bunch of Limited Edition Steelbooks This Week
- First Trailer for HBO's THE LAST OF US Series
- Trailer: A Family Navigates Disaster in WHITE NOISE Adaptation
- Take Note PA Fans: TESTAMENT Finally Comes to Blu-ray in Glorious Special Edition
- Trailer for Indigenous Apocalyptic Film POLARIS
- Trailer for New SCAVENGERS REIGN Animated Series
- MANBORG Novelization Out Now!
- VIFF 2021: THE IN-LAWS, MIRACLE, SALOUM, SECRETS FROM PUTUMAYO [Capsule Reviews]
- TIFF 2021: SILENT NIGHT Review
- VIFF 2021: Documentary Preview [Capsule Reviews]
- TIFF 2021: THE PINK CLOUD, THE HOLE IN THE FENCE [Capsule Reviews]
- TIFF 2021: JAGGED Review
- TIFF 2021: SUNDOWN Review
- VIFF 2021: Animation Preview [Capsule Reviews]
- SAINT-NARCISSE is Bruce LaBruce at His Most Accomplished [Review]
- TIFF 2021: DASHCAM Review
- TIFF 2021: THE DAUGHTER Review
- Hobo With a Shotgun Director Returns with KIDS vs. ALIENS [Teaser]
- Trailer for M. Night Shyamalan's KNOCK AT THE CABIN
- Here's What's New on Blu-ray & 4K This Week [September 20, 2022]
- The V/H/S/99 Teaser Trailer is Here!
- Blade Runner 2099 Series Ordered by Amazon
- Trailer for Lars von Trier's THE KINGDOM: EXODUS
- 5-25-77 Is A Coming of Age Movie about Filmmaking and the Summer Star Wars Was Released
- Trailer for Mission to Mars Movie VIKING
- Trailer for Lucky McKee's OLD MAN
- Trailer for Nicolas Winding Refn's Copenhagen Cowboy Netflix Series
- William Gibson Adaptation THE PERIPHERAL Finally Gets a Trailer!
- Winnie the Pooh Slasher Movie Gets a Trailer
- Cameras Roll on MJ Bassett's RED SONJA Adaption!
- Special Features Released for 4K Release of The Return of the Living Dead!
- Trailer: A Family Navigates Disaster in WHITE NOISE Adaptation
- Special Features Revealed for ARMY OF DARKNESS 4K Steelbook Edition
- Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon Trailer
- THE RUNNING MAN Gets a 4K Steelbook for its 35th Anniversary
- George Romero's THE AMUSEMENT PARK Coming to Blu-ray
- Lars von Trier Returns to his haunting TV Series with The Kingdom Exodus! [CLIP]
Jack In
Latest Comments
Latest Forum Posts
PA News
Latest Reviews
Older News
Crew
Marina Antunes
Editor in Chief
Vancouver, British Columbia
Christopher Webster
Managing Editor
Edmonton, Alberta
DN aka quietearth
Founder / Asst. Managing Editor
Denver, Colorado
Simon Read
UK Correspondent
Edinburgh, Scotland
Rick McGrath
Toronto Correspondent
Toronto, Ontario
Manuel de Layet
France Correspondent
Paris, France
rochefort
Austin Correspondent
Austin, Texas
Daniel Olmos
Corrispondente in Italia
Italy
Griffith Maloney aka Griffith Maloney
New York Correspondent
New York, NY
Stephanie O
Floating Correspondent
Quiet Earth Bunker
Jason Widgington
Montreal Correspondent
Montreal, Quebec
Carlos Prime
Austin Correspondent
Austin, TX
Latest news








Judy & Punch, the feature debut from writer/director Mirrah Foulkes is a playful, darkly comic historical fiction depicting the origins of Punch & Judy shows - grotesque puppet theatre derived from Italian commedia dell'arte and traditionally performed by hand puppets in British seaside towns. Here however, Foulkes re-imagines these origins as the work of a husband and wife team who perform their show with marionettes in the 17th Century rural English town of 'Seaside' - shows which reflect their own deeply dysfunctional relationship. The film is at turns comedic and quirky, occasionally bleak, but works on its own terms as kind of socially conscious morality fairy tail about prejudice, betrayal and revenge.
Mr. Punch (Damon Herriman) is a faded puppeteer. Once a great draw for theatre crowds, he has become reduced to a boozy lush, performing for pennies to raucous, drunken crowds in his home town of Seaside. His long-suffering wife Judy (Mia Wasikowska) largely carries the show herself, while also looking after their baby daughter and maintaining the household along with two elderly servants. When Punch's heavy drinking leads to a domestic tragedy, he takes his anger out on Judy. Viciously beating her with his cudgel, he leaves her for dead in the nearby Black Forest. This is just the start of his troubles.
Seaside is depicted as a backwards hamlet in which even the slightest indiscretion is punished by stoning, hanging or public burning. A young police constable attempts to maintain order, but is strongarmed at every turn by the paranoid and superstitious townsfolk. Judy survives her ordeal, and is taken in by a group of heretics who camp in the forest. Having been ostracized by the local townsfolk for their intelligence and individuality, this odd little community of proto-feminist hippies are a bastion of sanity and common sense in an otherwise upside down world. Judy recovers, and swears revenge.
For those in the know there is a lot of fun to be had in spotting references to classic Punch and Judy shows here. The couple own a little dog called Toby who wears a ruff collar; Mr. Punch is obsessed with eating sausages; and we have appearances in the film from ghosts, devils, the aforementioned policeman, and at one point even a crocodile. It feels as though the very shows they perform bleed into the film's twisted reality.
Foulkes is largely unconcerned with historical accuracy, utilizing synth covers of classical music during the shows themselves, and writing characters who often speak anachronistic, contemporary English. Some actors lapse into their native Australian accents from time to time. None of this matters though, the film's setting feels almost like a nowhere world in which anything goes. One moment towards the end even seems to feature real magic. Worth noting are the beautiful costumes and set designs which really make the setting come alive and help to absorb us into the world of Judy & Punch.
Buoyed along by its own crazy energy, the film is best appreciated very much on its own terms. Many times I wished Foulkes had included more depth to her two leading characters, more nuance to their motivations. Punch is a bad man, a selfish brute revealed as a misogynist, a coward and a charlatan, while Judy is nothing less than an angel, charming local children with her slight-of-hand magic tricks and burning the torch for reform and enlightenment in the town. The only criticism I really have is that the world Foulkes creates here is so black and white, everything seems convenient and uncomplicated - we know what will happen, we just wait to see how it will happen, and that is the entire basis of the narrative.
What works best is the delicate balancing act of maintaining a comedic tone while depicting some frankly horrific events. An early scene depicting the stoning of three clearly innocent women convicted as witches ("She was looking at the moon for a suspiciously long time!") strikes the right tone, one reminiscent of a similar scene in The Life of Brian. Like Punch and Judy shows themselves, the film aims to shock the audience while generating a response of hysterical laughter - and it works. That's the way to do it.
With strong performances from both Herriman and Wasikowska (continuing to choose interesting roles) Judy & Punch marks Foukes out as a filmmaker to watch. It is a wonderfully atmospheric and beautifully designed little film that may not be perfect, but stands tall as a solid piece of well-crafted, eccentric entertainment.
Judy & Punch will be available on VOD June 5.
Recommended Release: The Life of Brian
You might also like






