Kindeswohl (2017)

Kindeswohl: Directed by Richard Eyre. With Emma Thompson, Stanley Tucci, Ben Chaplin, Fionn Whitehead. As her marriage crumbles, a judge must decide a case involving a teenage boy who is refusing a blood transfusion on religious principle.

“Kudos to all hands involved in making u0026quot;The Children Actu0026quot;, a chamber drama about a family court Justice in London failing to achieve balance between her job and her private life. The legal issues involved are clearcut, but star Emma Thompsonu0026#39;s acting brings out the profound emotional and pyschological issues underneath.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eStanley Tucci is perfect in understated support as her neglected husband, and a true discovery here is Fionn Whitehead as the teenage protagonist, a Jehovahu0026#39;s Witness whose life hangs in the balance as his parents, Church elders and he himself refuse the blood transfusions necessary to give his treatment for leukemia a chance to save his life. Fionn Whitehead, previously in a lead role in u0026quot;Dunkirku0026quot;, struck me as a powerhouse at the level of a young Tom Courtenay, and would be perfectly cast as either Billy Liar or the Long Distance Runner.”