Female Film Critics 24/375
SAINT JUDY is director Sean Hanish’s fact-based drama about immigration attorney Judy Wood (Michelle Monaghan), whose tenacity, empathy, and intelligence led her to successfully argue a case that changed U.S. asylum law in a way that literally saved women’s lives. Earnest and timely, it’s a film that will fuel the fire of activism in viewers’ hearts — as well as engender respect for Judy and her accomplishments.
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Saint Judy is a true-life tale of a female crusader, a legal eagle named Judy Wood who is responsible for a landmark case that strives to protect female immigrants who seek asylum in the U.S. to avoid persecution and possible death in their homelands. While we have seen this sort of high-minded advocate story on film before, this one has the presence of Michelle Monaghan, who avoids turning her Judy into a do-gooder bore.
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There’s an urgency and a poignancy to the timing of this fact-based drama. With the current president and his base bent on creating border walls, Saint Judy is the eye-opening story of Los Angeles lawyer Judy Wood (Michelle Monaghan) and her dogged efforts on behalf of immigrants, especially women, seeking political asylum in the US due to the threat of violence and murder in the patriarchal countries they fled.
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