60
A risky project for Foulkes to make as her first feature, Judy & Punch ventures a little too far into troubled waters with its comedic handling of heavy matter, but shows promise in the woman holding the strings.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
85
Film Threat by Anthony Ray Bench
Judy and Punch is at times gut-bustingly hilarious, brutally uncomfortable, and joyously irreverent.
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) by Barry Hertz
Part revisionist history and part deeply grim fairy tale, writer-director Mirrah Foulkes’s feature debut wants to be as clever as it is fiendish, as funny as it is dark, and as progressive as it is exploitative – but such goals collide instead of coalesce.
67
For all of its low-key revisionism and post-modern flourish (most explicit during a kung-fu style training montage set to Leonard Cohen and a funny “Gladiator” reference that lands at a pivotal moment), Foulkes’ confident and kooky feature debut is less interested in subverting its source material than in continuing the puppet show’s long tradition of keeping with the times.
50
The New York Times by Jeannette Catsoulis
What’s left is a baroque pantomime, a heavy-handed satire of intolerance whose fun fades faster than the livid bruises on Judy’s face.
50
Wall Street Journal by Joe Morgenstern
Should you choose to watch Judy & Punch, the best way to do it is with the sound turned low or off. The downside is missing part of Ms. Wasikowska’s performance; she plays Judy with impressive ferocity. The advantage lies in losing the repetitive bombast of Punch’s drunken posturings while enjoying the genuine prettiness of Stefan Duscio’s cinematography and Josephine Ford’s production design.
25
San Francisco Chronicle by Mick LaSalle
There was an interesting idea at the heart of Judy & Punch, but the execution is disappointing. This feminist visit to the world of the old “Punch and Judy” puppet shows is tonally off, shifting and swerving when it should be precise and then turning earnest and explicit when it needs to be subtle.
40
The Telegraph by Robbie Collin
The themes of mob justice and socialised misogyny could have hit a little harder if they’d been explored rather than simply harped on about.
75
Wasikowska’s character arc is fun, Herriman makes a perfectly charming and vile villain, and the period detail in this Aussie production — more Brothers Grimm 16th century than the real thing — gives Judy & Punch the perfect stage to tell their satiric story without having to pull any you-know-whats.
60
With quite a simple plot, it’s not a particularly challenging or unpredictable storyline, but it’s elevated by great performances, refreshingly dry humour, bold cinematography by Stefan Duscio, and a vibrant original score by François Tétaz.