Written and Directed by Mirrah Foulkes
Starring Mia Wasikowska, Damon Herriman and Benedict Hardie
Running Time: 1 hour and 45 minutes
Not rated

by Rosalie Kicks, Old Sport

“Does that punchie guy always win?”

Lately I have been experiencing a lot of coincidences. Nothing major. Just tiny, little, happy accidents. Take, for example, like when I recently watched Pickup on South Street for Moviejawn’s advice pod. After Pickup on South Street wrapped, Ben and I followed up the flick with Niagara, which happens to feature the same lead actor, Jean Peters and cinematographer, Joseph MacDonald. This wasn’t planned, it just happened. Much like when I watched the movie, Dolls (1987) and was introduced to the notorious Punch, just a mere two days before viewing Mirrah Foulkes’s Judy & Punch.

I had not been familiar with Punch, until seeing Dolls and Best Boy gave me the 4-1-1 on this disreputable jester. After learning about the pesky puppet’s violent and malevolent behavior, it felt extremely fitting that the atrocious father is transformed into Punch in Stuart Gordon’s Dolls by the eccentric magical toy makers. In watching Judy & Punch, the knowledge of Punch’s destructive demeanor helped me appreciate the pointed message by Foulkes’s film even more.

Set in the England town of Seaside (which is in fact no where near the actual sea) during the late sixteen hundreds, Judy (Mia Wasikowska) finds herself caring for an infant and a man baby, Punch (Damon Herriman). Judy is in a constant struggle to keep it together. When she isn’t trying to wrangle people to come see her and husband Punch’s puppet show in order to put food on the table (particularly sausages for Punch), she is trying to keep her husband from falling off the wagon. Her life is filled with “Punch promises” which, inevitably, are as worthless as a pre-peeled banana. Upon taking a trip to the market, she leaves the baby with Punch to care for with the instruction of, what would seem for most to go without saying, “No boozing with the baby.” Unfortunately, for someone like Punch, one might as well have asked him to swim the English Channel. Within what feels like maybe a couple of hours, he manages to drink himself into a stupor, get into an altercation with a sausage thieving doggo (a doggo that Punch previously taunted with said sausage) and throw the baby out the window. When Judy does return home, she is greeted to Punch’s unbelievable justifications and the nonchalant declaration informing her that their baby is indeed dead and she should move on. From here, the story unravels into a poignant take on the injustices still faced within society today. With the backdrop of literal witch hunting, Punch & Judy showcases the horrors of a society that is led by fear and hysteria rather than intelligence, empathy and comprehension. Punch is an instigator of terror that utilizes mayhem in order to deflect the community’s eyes of his own misdeeds: the murder of his wife and child.

Foulkes utilizes the character of Punch to convey the power of misinformation, especially by those that appear charming such as he. Punch wins over the seaside town with his trickery and charismatic ways but is really, much like his namesake in the stage show, is an abusive brute. There is much to admire about this flick, especially the set design and costuming. However, it is the creative way in which the writer/director weaves her ideas throughout that make this story that much more meaningful. After seeking refuge with a heretics camp, Judy does, indeed, achieve her revenge and obtain satisfaction, but what she has lost shall never return. There are a few moments within the hour and forty five minute runtime that go a bit over the top and play off as hokey. However, these missteps are easily ignored with the otherwise exceptional storytelling. Something that will stick with me for a while is when the end credits rolled showing children of the 1950s watching the puppetry show and their exposure to the abuse against women being normalized. Punch is just having some fun right? Similar to the doctrine that one is not born a racist but is taught, the same could be said for an abuser.

With Judy & Punch, Foulkes attempts to end this reign of terror.

Watch Judy & Punch on demand today, more information available here.