Whether or not you enjoy screenwriter and director Dylan Southern’s new film, THE THING WITH FEATHERS, will likely depend on how much you’re convinced by his visual representation of the central concept of the beautiful book on which it’s based.
Novelist Max Porter chooses to tell the story of a grieving widower and his two young sons by imagining their grief as a large black crow that harasses them, nudges them, and even physically assaults them into accepting their devastating loss. What works on the page often falls flat or becomes ridiculous on screen, and I was very worried that seeing a man-sized crow with a thick Northern accent wouldn’t work. But I’m happy to say that, at least for me, it worked perfectly.
Director: Dylan Southern
Writers: Dylan Southern, Max Porter
Stars: Benedict Cumberbatch, Sam Spruell, David Thewlis
I was deeply moved by this small family in their brutal struggle for survival. Benedict Cumberbatch is in almost every scene and perfectly embodies a father who wasn’t very hands-on before his wife’s death and who now struggles to cope with even simple things like family breakfasts. And what excellent work by casting director Shaheen Baig in finding the two young actors, Richard and Henry Boxall, to play the two sons, who are mischievous, confused, sad, angry, and tender in equal measure.
Southern’s screenplay, which faithfully follows the book, captures the banal and sometimes hurtful clichés of the grief industry and the well-meaning intrusions of acquaintances. How many times is Cumberbatch’s character asked, “How are you?” How can you even put that into words? But these insensitive questions are balanced by the appearance of Sam Spruell as a loving brother, Vinette Robinson as a good friend, and, of course, the Crow, voiced by David Thewlis, masterful as always.
By the end of the film, I felt I truly knew and cared about this family, and also that I had witnessed a raw and vulnerable exploration of grief. The book is wonderful, and this film is probably as close as you can get to translating it to the screen.
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