Professor Marston and the Wonder Women (2017, R)

Lately, I’ve been busy with other write-ups and just haven’t had a chance to get to some of the movies I saw this fall, but I still want to talk about them.  So, here’s my “better late than never” thoughts on this interesting bit of comic book/queer history (premise spoilers.)

Bill Marston and his wife Elizabeth are both slightly adrift.  Both are intelligent psychologists, but Elizabeth is struggling to get her credentials recognized as they should be, and their efforts to create a machine for detecting falsehood haven’t been bearing fruit.  When Bill enlists Olive, one of his university students, as an assistant for their work, both he and Elizabeth begin to fall in love with her and she with them.  As the three start to make their own way in their relationship together, whispers of their “impropriety” threaten Bill and Elizabeth’s careers in academia.  Bill, inspired by both the women he loves, finds a new means of supporting his family through the creation of a new superhero character, a certain princess of the Amazons.

I’m fairly impressed with how the film handles the central relationship.  Granted, I don’t know a whole lot about polyamory and so can’t make a real definitive call on the representation we get here.  To me, though, it feels pretty good.  The sex scenes are both sexy (especially as the three start to explore kinks) and clearly loving, and even better, the film is peppered with small moments that show how ordinary this family is – raising their children, discussing problems together, family meals, etc.  It doesn’t feel “scandalous” or “salacious.”  It also definitely never feels like an arrangement where it’s just “Bill and his two women.”  All three of them are in a relationship with each other, and we see the dynamics of each pairing within that (Elizabeth/Bill, Bill/Olive, Olive/Elizabeth,) as well as the three of them together (Bill/Elizabeth/Olive.)

As a biopic, I’d say it’s reasonably well done.  The plot keeps moving well, and there’s a lot of historical interest here – in addition to the real-life polyamorous OT3, there’s also the intriguing psychology stuff Bill and Elizabeth were exploring at the time (that he later tried to insert in his comics,) mid-century sex shops, and of course, the creation of Wonder Woman.  Some of the story beats feel a bit rote, but by and large, it’s a neat bit of history and a fairly engagingly-told story.

Some fine actors doing really nice work here.  Luke Evans (Ga-stahhhhhhn!) is very effective as Bill – very opinionated and hyper-intellectual, deep into his theories but devoted to the women he loves.  I’m not familiar with Bella Heathcote, who plays Olive, but she’s great.  While there’s a definite “sheltered girl having a sexual awakening” angle to her character, it’s played in a way that keeps her strength and agency.  And Rebecca Hall, who I’ve adored since she played Sylvia in Parade’s End, is terrific as Elizabeth.  Great character – lots of hard edges but at the same time very vulnerable, with a clear-eyed take on most matters mixed with a fire that emerges at surprising moments.

Warnings

Sexual content (including old-fashioned porn and kinky sex,) language, drinking/smoking, and thematic elements.