My Review of Professor Marston And The Wonder Women (2017)

 

Written & Directed by Angela Robinson

Marston (to an audience): "To you Wonder Woman is just a comic but she's my life. She's my love."

The timing of this film could not have been more perfect. Released nearly four months after Gal Gadot herself dominated the big screen in her first solo outing as the legendary Amazon, this biopic concerning her creator felt like a smart move and one that could add a bit more insight into the most influential female superhero of all time.

Of course, as this is a biopic, while Wonder Woman and the initial controversy that the content of her comics often generated (somewhat described as sadomasochist), the real focus here is William Moulton Marston (Luke Evans), his wife Elizabeth (Rebecca Hall) and their lover, Olive Byrne (Bella Heathcote) and while this movie takes a lot of creative liberties, it's a fascinating look at all three people here.

The Marstons themselves were known in the academic community especially for their work with the lie detector test (or were they?) and this gets covered as student Olive finds herself getting immersed with the pair, to the point of leaving her former life behind and having William's children as well as becoming a lover with Elizabeth.

This unconventional relationship isn't shown without it's controversy and backlash from respective communities as all three have their professional lives put at jeopardy as they delve into the world of BDSM while developing a certain heroine, whose adventures are scrutinised by children's literature expert Josette Frank (Connie Britton) much to William's derision.

All three leads do an excellent job in bringing the characters to life and while I definitely would've liked to have seen more of Marston's creation here, the focus on his lifestyle definitely gave a fascinating into the man as well as the lives of both Elizabeth and Olive, especially as the former herself often had difficulty in submitting but did when the threat of losing Olive came to be a reality.

There's a far more insightful and accurate commentary on the nature of BDSM and it's correlation to basic human nature than a certain franchise that shall be named with Marston putting a heavy emphasis  on the D.I.S.C. model of behavioral styles throughout the entire movie as he put this in practice with his relationships with Elizabeth and Olive.

The movie also covers the final days of Marston with Elizabeth and Olive coping with his loss as well as remaining with one another until their own dying days. At times, I did find myself more invested with them as a pairing as I did with William, but as I mentioned earlier in the review all three actors play their parts well and have the right spark with each other.

- Marston's granddaughter Christie Marston publicly stated that the family rejected the movie and it's depiction of their grandparents.

- Nice performances as well from JJ Field as fetishist Charles Guyette and Oliver Platt as comic book pioneer, Max Gaines.

- At one point we did Olive donning the very costume that would be seen on Wonder Woman during the Marstons first session with BDSM.

- Chronology: This takes place during the years of 1928 to 1947 with some focus on the 1945 testimonials.

Professor Marston And The Wonder Women might not be a strictly authentic look into the fascinating life that Marston, Elizabeth and Olive lived but it's definitely an engrossing depiction that succeeds in keeping you gripped from start to finish. I also came away from this movie hoping that all three of these leads at some point wind up in the DCEU.

Rating: 8 out of 10