Written and Directed by Lena Dunham
Based on the novel by Karen Cushman
Starring Bella Ramsey, Andrew Scott, Billie Piper, Lesley Sharp, Joe Alwyn, and Sophie Okonedo
PG-13
Running Time: 1 hour and 48 minutes
Streaming on Amazon Prime October 7

by Ian Hrabe, Staff Writer

Modern media typically depicts the Middle Ages as a horror-filled hellscape full of violence, disease, and squalor. Game of Thrones built an empire on this notion. The only movie I can really think of that has fun with the era is the Heath Ledger vehicle A Knight’s Tale and considering how much fun that movie is I’m always surprised why more filmmakers haven’t tried to counter the usual tropes of the period. Obviously, the Middle Ages were nobody’s idea of a picnic, but does every movie set in the period need to have people being raped, stabbed in the throat, or dying of dysentery (or maybe all three at once)? All of this is just a roundabout way of saying: why are there no fun medieval movies besides A Knight’s Tale, and why did it take Hollywood 20 years to make another one as good as that one? Because Catherine Called Birdy is an absolute delight.

Perhaps more shocking than Hollywood’s inability to find joy in the Middle Ages is Lena Dunham making a legitimately excellent film. Dunham is a divisive figure and based on the brutal reviews of her most recent film Sharp Stick (released earlier this year) it seemed like her career was cooked. Here she delivers an excellent adapted screenplay (based on Karen Cushman’s young adult novel of the same name) and her work is a director is just...awesome. There’s such a clear vision here that perfectly balances the medieval setting with a modern sensibility. I’m having a hard time reckoning with just how impressed I was with just how in control this movie feels. I sat through six seasons of Girls with my spouse and while that show had some great moments that highlighted Dunham’s potential as a cinematic storyteller, it was one of those shows where most of the characters were just such shitty people that it got harder to stomach season after season. By the end of it all I was ready to be done with Dunham and now here I am, thoroughly enchanted by this lovely film she just made. 

But if that old saw about directing being 90% casting is correct, there isn’t a misstep on that front. Bella Ramsey (the tiny badass Lyanna Mormont from Game of Thrones) capitalizes on the immense promise she showed in GoT and turns in a star making performance. Her Birdy is the engine that makes this thing run, which might seem obvious given, you know, the title of the picture, but her performance is so full of verve and joy that it feels like it would have been really hard to screw up a movie with this charismatic a leading lady. Birdy is a 14-year-year old girl living in in the tail end of 13th century England and her broke father decides it’s time to marry her off and collect a dowry to get his finances back in shape. That sounds straight out of the patriarchal dominance you’d expect from the period (or, you know, now), and the way this movie subverts this is what makes it so much fun. 

It certainly helps that her parents are played by Andrew Scott (the hot priest from Fleabag) and Billie Piper (Doctor Who, Penny Dreadful) who are also incredibly charismatic, and it turns what could be a dour plot point into a charm offensive. The worst thing that happens in this movie is that the mother keeps having miscarriages (because, you know, 13th century) and that might feel like a spoiler, but really, I just tell you that to put you at ease and let you just enjoy this little feminist period piece. Which, speaking of periods, if you ever wanted to know how women dealt with their periods in the Middle Ages, this film has tons of content for you. The rest of the cast is stacked with excellent British acting vets like Lesley Sharp (Naked, The Full Monty) and Sophie Okonedo (Hotel Rwanda) and up and comers like Joe Alwyn (Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk) and Isis Hainsworth (Metal Lords) and there isn’t a weak link in the bunch. The film employs the tactic of diverse casting for period pieces, and while that is likely to piss off a bunch of racist neckbeards who were never going to watch this movie—and oh how they will cry and cry about how their “culture” is being taken away from them—it's awesome that this is becoming the norm. And sad that you can scan the reviews on Rotten Tomatoes and see the handwringing front and center. All the songs on the soundtrack are modern hits, and I wonder why there’s nobody talking about how that RUINS the movie or whatever. I digress.

There’s so much to love about this movie that it's hard to get bogged down in the wails of the internet crybabies for too long. Even those people with an irrational hate for Lena Dunham can’t in good faith give her crap for this one because her script and direction are outstanding. And I’m speaking as someone who thought her career was dead. And lo, now I’m very curious to see where she goes from here. There’s nothing like the joy that comes from being proven wrong about a filmmaker, writer, or actor you’ve written off. But that’s my movie nerd take on this one. The real takeaway is that Catherine Called Birdy is a lovely, feel-good movie with an extraordinary cast, a great message, and a ton of heart and I can’t recommend it enough.