In her devilish and sometimes heartbreaking debut feature, Australian director Mirrah Foulkes manages a blow to the patriarchy in the oddest of places. It had never occurred to me that the world of 16th century English puppeteers would be an appropriate setting for such a feat, but discovering unexpected joys are one of my favorite things about independent cinema, and Judy & Punch does not disappoint in this regard. This quirky and fantastical period piece may take some time to find its footing, but once it does, its anger and energy are a force to be reckoned with – and not to be missed.
In this stylized version of the centuries-old “Punch and Judy” puppet shows, Foulkes uses the “origins” of the famous plays as the backdrop for her revisionist tale of revenge and justice. The titular characters (Mia Wasikowska and Damon Herriman) are a married pair of puppeteers with an infant daughter and a lot of talent. They’re just on the verge of a comeback (Punch drinks, you see) when things go haywire. In a drunken stupor, the good husband commits a heinous crime and then easily covers it up. The only problem (for him) is that through his ineptitude, he’s failed to finish the job.
What follows is a darkly comedic and eerily imaginative – not to mention timely – look at patriarchal oppression, religious hypocrisy, and communal hysteria. As Punch gets away with his crime, Judy falls in with a marginalized group of outcasts who know all too well the perils of public scorn. Instead of seeking outright revenge against those who’ve cast them out, Judy’s new family have chosen instead to hide away and draw breath as truly free people. No longer living under a culture of fear or with the trappings that come with embraced hatred, they are liberated, and as Judy plots her revenge, she begins to see another path. Justice must still be served, however (and served it is in the grandest of displays), but instead of “an eye for an eye,” Judy opts for a more mercifully apt approach.
An altered expression of vengeance is still on the menu, though, but it isn’t carried out sadistically or with unnecessary malice – even if doing so would be understandable. In truth, Foulkes chooses an honorable form of justice for her protagonist over wanton retaliation, and in doing so, upends both the film’s expected revenge motif and the notion that a woman must be vicious or “act like a man” to be strong. As unlikely as it seems, the soiled and ragged faux-aristocracy of the middle ages proves to be the perfect backdrop for righteous female empowerment and self-governance. Perhaps even stranger is that a medieval puppet show featuring a male marionette who beats the shit out of everyone he sees would be the impetus for said revision of history. Either way, Judy & Punch is an eerie look into our male-centric society and those living just outside of it, ready to knock it down.
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James is a writer, skateboarder, record collector, wrestling nerd, and tabletop gamer living with his family in Asheville, North Carolina. He is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association, the North Carolina Film Critics Association, and contributes to The Daily Orca, Razorcake Magazine, Mountain Xpress, and Asheville Movies.