Jodie Comer casts a long shadow over Prima Facie, originally written for the stage by and shaped again by Suzie Miller for cinemas. It won her an Olivier and Tony award that year, making life difficult for any actor stepping into those shoes. How Cynthia Erivo would have fared in front of a live audience is up for debate, but Comer left scorch marks in her wake and put audiences through the wringer. Making the idea of a big screen version almost foolhardy.
Cynthia Erivo might be Oscar-nominated, but despite her best efforts up on-screen Prima Facie feels like a facsimile. There is no denying the power of that subject matter, nor Erivo’s commit to the material, but this film falters because Prima Facie is still just a courtroom drama. One that might turn the tables and put a lawyer on trial, but a film that consistently suffers by comparison to its theatrical counterpart.
Fresh off The Gentlemen Season 2, Daniel Ings might offer up an overachieving entitled male stereotype in Julian Brooks, but there is a conceited pantomime villainy to his performance. Lecherous, professionally privileged, and almost untouchable, this personification of the old boy network in chambers never truly feels three-dimensional. Whether that comes down to the writing is up for debate, but more likely it comes down to familiarity.
Image Courtesy of Sony Pictures and LFF
Prima Facie tackles sexual harassment and professional prejudice in the workplace, and Suzie Miller channels her outrage in polished prose, while Cynthia Erivo delivers those lines through a flawless British accent. What is lacking in her portrayal comes down to an absence of the x factor, that often separates excellence from something extraordinary.
On stage Prima Facie was a force of nature in the hands of an artist transformed in front of paying audiences, conjuring characters from thin air and waxing lyrical about the degradation of sexual assault at work. By embodying everyone on stage and maintaining momentum through shifting stage props and pushing her to emotional extremes Jodie Comer became indelible. It is an event difficult to forget when faced with a cinematic facsimile of something truly seismic.
Unfortunately, what the film reveals is just how thin Prima Facie feels up close. Be aware, this is not a condemnation of the adaptation itself, which is solidly written and performed. It is a reminder that not every great stage play can successfully translate to the big screen without losing something fundamental. In this case, fleshing out those grey areas and making them more substantial robs audiences of their own visceral reaction.
What that leaves is a by-the-numbers courtroom drama with some impressive performances, that somehow fails to rattle emotional cages. Back in 1988, The Accused won Jodie Foster an Oscar for Best Actress on the same subject matter, putting audiences through the wringer just as Prima Facie did on stage. The point being, that anyone keen to watch a harrowing cinematic depiction of non-consensual sex on screen have options.
Prima Facie is out in cinemas November 13th.