judy & punch

Judy & Punch is a none-too-subtle #MeToo fairy tale that is part Brothers Grimm and part Shakespeare with a pinch of Monty Python tomfoolery. Consider the fact that it is set in a 17th-century village named Seaside that is nowhere near the sea.

The synthesized version of period music played over the opening scene sets the tone for a film that is dark and twisted in ways you will never see coming. Utilizing the theatrical hysteria and absurdity of the time period, the script dives deeper into fear and mythology and superbly plays with the superstitions about life and death.

Judy & Punch is a fantastical revenge empowerment satire and scabrous social commentary on violence and misogyny. Set in a mythical medieval town called Seaside, Mirrah Foulkes’s debut feature is a fairy tale of a very grim sort, a wildly imaginative and powerfully relevant fractured fairy tale.

A fresh and decidedly feminist take on the classic 16th century puppet show Punch and Judy, Judy & Punch is alternately gorgeous and lyrical, and excruciating to watch. First-time feature director and screenwriter Mirrah Foulkes is coming in hot, with fearless, bracing scenes that will long be etched into viewers’ memories, crafting a very Grimm tale of the ‘woman behind the man’.