The trend of women being denied credit for their scientific discoveries is nothing new. Films such as Life Story (1987), The Imitation Game (2014) and Hidden Figures (2016) have belatedly acknowledged the contribution of women to scientific breakthroughs, but it seems particularly cruel that the ground-breaking work of Jean Purdy in the creation of in vitro fertilisation (IVF) went unrecognised for half a century. But who better to set the record straight than prolific screenwriter Jack Thorne and his co-writer wife Rachel Mason? Their son is one of the so-called ‘test tube babies’ born since the first, Louise Joy Brown, made medical history in 1978. And what better time than now, with right wing evangelicals and their political proxies coming for IVF with the same vigour with which they attack women’s right to choose?
The scientific procedural tends to start with a ‘can we do this?’, often followed – as in Oppenheimer and TV’s Masters of Sex – with opposing forces saying ‘no, you can’t’. But while genre conventions and an unavoidably chronological narrative might hobble a lesser writer, when Thorne tackles a subject – a celebrity sex scandal (National Treasure), care homes during Covid (Help), a fight to save a severely disabled child (Best Interests) – deeply satisfying drama invariably results.
Unless you live in a deep red state, it may be hard to imagine the tabloid and ecclesiastical opprobrium massed against embryologist Purdy (Thomasin McKenzie), scientist Robert Edwards (a jovial James Norton) and surgeon Patrick Steptoe (Bill Nighy) as they set out to find a way to help the one in six people affected by infertility, refusing to accept childlessness as ‘God’s will’. Purdy has it hardest of all; her God-fearing mother (Joanna Scanlan) all but disowns her.
It’s an extremely moving and deeply affecting drama
Although it’s not a natural fit for the big screen (it’s on Netflix in November), by reframing the story from Purdy’s perspective, and introducing us to many of the would-be parents the trio is trying to help, Joy delivers cinema-worthy emotional clout. It’s an extremely moving and deeply affecting drama about a woman’s persistence in the face of overwhelming odds.
Suffice to say that McKenzie does Purdy proud, while Norton is generous enough to balance history by ceding the floor to his leading lady. As for Nighy, he damn near steals the entire film. But even his effortlessly empathetic performance can’t compete with the emotional impact of seeing how three determined people delivered a miracle to millions.
In UK cinemas Nov 15. On Netflix worldwide Nov 22.