Shadows on the Wall | Virginia Woolf's Night & Day

Virginia Woolf’s
Night & Day

dir Tina Gharavi
scr Justine Waddell
prd Justine Waddell, Christopher Figg, Meg Thomson, Stephen Julius
with Haley Bennett, Timothy Spall, Jennifer Saunders, Elyas M'Barek, Jack Whitehall, Lily Allen, Misia Butler, Sally Phillips, Elizabeth Edmonds, Frances Barber, Alex Macqueen, Aaron Cobham
release UK 19.Jun.26
26/UK 1h35

SXSW LONDON

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There's a spark of energetic wit running through this engaging adaptation of Virginia Woolf's 1919 novel, set amid the shift from Victorian to Edwardian England. This entertaining film is packed with sharp dialog and amusing performances, taking a remarkably textured approach to issues of prejudice, especially at moments in history when things need to change. There's also fizzy chemistry between the characters, creating a wonderfully askance romcom vibe.

In 1910 London, the Hilberys (Spall and Saunders) are worried about their independent-minded daughter Katharine (Bennett), pushing her to marry the blustery poet William (Whitehall). Gifted at science, Katharine pushes back against a society in which she isn't allowed to join the Astronomical Society or even vote. Her only option is to become a wife. Then she meets free-thinking suffragette Mary Datchet (Allen) and provocative editor Ralph (M'Barek), who offer hope for the future. But first, she needs to convince Cambridge to let her study there, even though they have never admitted a woman.

There's a superb irony to how Katharine dresses in a man's suit but has to bind herself with a crippling corset. Costumes and settings are beautifully rendered in a way that never constrains characters, allowing them to emerge with snappy personality traits. So the film meaningfully grapples with serious issues through the eyes of young people who long to reform a system that is holding them back. And the astronomical metaphor is meaningful and thankfully understated.

Bennett is likeable as "a woman who knows what she wants", but she's so single-minded that she can't even see when a man might be supporting her, aside from her beloved cousin Cyril (Butler), who has his own things to deal with. Bennett creates chemistry with Butler, Whitehall and M'Barek, as Katharine approaches all relationships on her terms. Spall finds terrific layers to her perpetually angry father, and Saunders is also surprisingly nuanced as her mother, who has subdued her own brilliance for decades.

There's a central theme here about the push and pull between the heart and mind. "Nothing you can wrap your head around means anything without love," says Cyril's secret partner Laurie (Cobham). Katharine knows that the future will be able to embrace female intelligence, and she struggles with the fact that she was born ahead of her time. But she also knows that she needs make the best of her life in the present. Without ever being pushy, these things get under the skin and make us think.

themes, language 15.Jun.26

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