This is a throughly gripping film, both beautiful and profoundly moving. Emma Thompson is excellent as a senior judge who has invested so much of herself into her legal career and judicial persona that she has lost sight of herself. Even her downtime is filled with the rigor of studious piano playing, echoing the order and discipline that form the structure of who she has become. She has sealed herself off from life so successfully that even her husband's pleas for their marriage bounce off her with apparent minimal emotional impact. But the beautiful and inspired youth she meets as a consequence of her deciding a legal dispute over his fate touches her in a way that clearly nothing else had, for many years.. The divine blend of beauty and tragedy that is so hard to capture in any work of art. The impossibility of denying emotion in life is challenged in a surprising, lovely and dreadful way. Great pathos

This film began with promise, mainly owing to the fact that it starred Emma Thompson. But it was this star lead that gave the film the appearance of being far better than it actually was. Had she been a man and he a girl, that long, lingering kiss in the pouring rain would’ve drawn a collective gasp of disdain from audiences and critics alike, provoking thoughts of Lolita or words like ‘inappropriate,’ and worse ‘paedophile’ ringing out from every living room in the world. Sad how female leads attract sympathy whereas male leads attract negative and media-hyped judgements. Thompson’s character was too thinly-layered for the film to have delivered on the pathos it intended to provoke with audiences. She: a white, upper-class, privileged Londoner with a dazzling career going through a few marital issues. He: a cancer-stricken young boy with controlling, religious zealots as parents. As a result, this onscreen partnership lacked substance and the film lost its credibility. Rubbish.

A quality thought provoking film, excellent acting and great dialogue. Quintessential British film.

I thought this was brilliant, far better than expected. Grear central performances. A real tear jerker. Thought-provoking.

Difficult choices in the truly examined life. Emma Thompson's character, a judge in Family Court, has both professional & personal choices to grapple with. Great to see a drama so moving.

While the first half is riddled with clichés and an uneven pace the minute Fionn Whitehead shows up I realised I hit a jackpot from a24. His acting combined with the heavyweight 2 time oscar winner Emma Thompson is unmatched compared to other a24 performances recently. While Stanley Tucci was a bit miscast it still doesn't make the film the end of the world for me. Overall amazing acting from Emma and Fionn combined with a beautiful second half elevates the film to 4 stars. Close to perfection and would recommend this to a a24 film buff. Grade: A

Mikey's Movie Review: The Children Act (2017) Emma Thompson shines once again in a melodrama that just about avoids cliché, with an interesting dilemma at its heart. A High Court judge must decide if she should order a life-saving blood transfusion for a teen with cancer, despite his Jehovah's Witness family's refusal to accept medical treatment. All the while trying to balance her feelings of affection towards the boy (a strong turn from Fionn Whitehead) with the collapse of her troubled marriage to Stanley Tucci. Thought provoking and intelligent. It sags slightly in the middle, but have those tissues at the ready for the 3rd Act... Mikey's Movie Rating: 4/5* 😎👌

In a sense this films themes are about realising what you've lost, whats been ignored, in the important things in life - love and companionship. Its quite a thought provoking film. I have read the short story its based on and so I knew roughly what to expect and I'd assumed it would be quite a depressing watch but in a way it was actually, perhaps equally uplifting (thanks to the great performance by the teenage boy) and that came as a pleasant surprise. Emma Thompson also gives a decent performance - I very much believed her character was emotionally affected by the case this film centres on. It is somewhat sentimental and perhaps mildly cheesy but I wouldn't say its unrealistic or mired down in artificiality. I would recommend this film, yes.

Tão lindo... Completamente apaixonada, exemplar, uma exímia magistrada, mesmo com a dor de um amor perdido, e como isso dói, um coração partido, trabalha com maestria, conseguindo separar a vida pessoal, da profissional, magistralmente perfeita... Esse filme é muito intenso, chorei, emocionei, deixou meu coração quentinho, aquela relação dúbia, a juíza e a vítima/réu, difícil saber… Muito bom, de uma sensibilidade, que ficamos a questionar as decisões da meritíssima, acerca de seu casamento, das atitudes para com o menino, mas jamais sobre suas atuações no tribunal… Maravilhoso...

I thought this one had potential between the great cast & characters plus story material, but it just seemed to drag on without delivering much.

Emma Thompson's performance as a High Court judge in The Children Act is a five-star turn, she is magnetic, nuanced, and powerful. The film is a complex adult drama about important themes, and both Stanley Tucci and Fionn Whitehead are strong partners for Ms. Thompson. The film as a whole is not as good as she is, because it loses its way a bit in the second half, with moments of melodrama and sentimentality. But it is well worth watching for its challenging, thoughtful treatment of important questions and especially to see how a magnificent Emma Thompson grapples with them.

A powerfully moving flck about a lady judge who is all brisk business and, so much so that she has no time for her husband or to have children, until she meets a boy wit leukemia an she has to decide wether or he should be forced to accept a blood infusion, even though he and his perfects cane keep him for from getting, The judge gets to decide. Did she right or wrong?

Devastating examination of characters... This film had such a big impact on me that I literally decided to change the direction of my legal career. Thank you for this masterpiece.

Excellent on many levels.

Emma Thompson is a brilliant actress in a difficult role. A very thoughtful look at how young people are sometimes victimized by parental beliefs and how difficult it is to free yourself.

Great performance by Emma Thompson. Genuinely moving. Spiritually moving as well.

Interesting at first, then it turned odd and out of place. I saw it as recommended by Z.

Emotional, intelligent, brilliant acting, music. Such a memorable story!

This was a good movie, but with a really big plot hole that left me surprised and scratching my head. Thompson and Tucci's marital scenes were brilliant together, but I had a really hard time finding the connection between her character and Adam's relationship. His obsession with her seems so out-of-place and bizarre in this otherwise good movie with plenty of drama. Throwing in his weird, stocker tendencies seemed unnecessary.

Emma Thompson was brilliant - she acted the hell out of what she was given which wasn't much. The movie started strong but devolved into 2 unrelated stories and neither are served well. At the end, I literally thought: "what was the point?". BTW: Great views of London.