Judy & Punch

The town of Seaside (nowhere near the sea) is like any other medieval town. The delicacies of raw possibly tainted meat for the rough, dirt-covered civilians that live there. The communal sense of pride during each ‘stoning day’, when the latest women accused of witchcraft are given their due sentence. At the centre of Seaside are the puppeteers Judy (Mia Wasikowska) and Punch (Damon Herriman), celebrities in their own right as the population flocks to see the ‘greatest puppet show around’. Their marionette show is only temporary as they hope to resurrect their careers with local scouts coming to see their talent in full flow. But the anarchic town with their mob mentality may do more harm than good for Punch, a man filled with his own demons and a deep drinking problem.

Judy is the centrefold of keeping all this together however. Her motherly instincts for their new born is shown with her constant maintenance of the stage and puppets as well as performing magic tricks to the children of Seaside; something that worries the constable Derrick (Benedict Hardie) as this town may be quick to accuse Judy of witchcraft herself. This town that begs for violence though may get more than they can chew when Punch brings it behind closed doors into his own home, placing his wife and child at risk. And so when after leaving Judy almost dead in the abandoned forests that no town member may go to, he falls further down the drunken rabbit hole of a creative wasting any talent he has on the booze instead. Whilst for Judy, she finds a hidden population of women on the outskirts of this society, avoiding the bitter villages that exude more danger than security for them.

The picture is painted of the town’s morals within the first few minutes, the rough-looking costumes, the raucous cheers for puppet violence and the only past-time being boxing or brawling.All these details depict why a smart character like Judy needs to leave this town and her husband for the better. Writer and director Mirrah Foulkes does a great job with her screenplay making this town feel like its own history with how these characters interact with each other. It has touches of modernity to it, with heads of this mob moaning that “the good old values” of stoning women are slipping. As well as this, the idea that celebrities are a priority and their words and accusations has more merit than any commoner. Punch’s accusations of his servants when Judy and his baby are found ‘missing’ is instantly taken for truth, believing that the puppeteer’s word is final.

Due to its bizarre setting, the tone is quite a mixture throughout each act. Moments of the film that are made for gasps instead bring laughter to its audience, whilst comedic moments leave nothing but silence. All these hidden meanings and representations can do wonders for anyone wanting to write a dissertation on this, Foulkes is making a clear statement on toxic relationships and believing women’s stories, something that matters and something that needs to be talked about more in film. Unfortunately though in this case, the film is trying so hard for its dialogue and actions to mean these points, that within the film it has little to no context whatsoever. Judy & Punchhas a style that is unlike any movie really, its individuality makes a case in point for why people should see this. But the closing shot of this shows what kind of potential this film could have had, if it wasn’t let down due to its monotonous second act.

5/10