Lena Dunham’s “Catherine Called Birdy”

Catherine Called Birdy (2022)

A frothy, modernist medieval coming of age story that probably works for the tween demographic from which the source material was written

I think it probably wasn’t a good idea to follow watching a social realist drama with this. It’s the equivalent of eating a mint and drinking a pint of Guinness. Added to that is that my expectations were quite high as Mark Kermode had counted this among the best of 2022 and it has been well received. Unfortunately, this never hit the mark.

It’s based on a teen book by the same name written by an American and here adapted by an American director. There’s something saccharine about revisionist historicals told through a populist lens that doesn’t quite work for me. Armando Iannucci is very good at these as seen in “The Personal History of David Copperfield” and “The Death of Stalin”. S. S. Rajamouli’s “RRR” and Yorgos Lanthimos’ “The Favourite” likewise make it work. This is more akin to “A Knight’s Tale” which like here is helmed by an American director.

Rob Reiner’s “The Princess Bride” does something similar though not strictly historical, it is genuinely funny which comes to the jokes in the film which are, on the whole, pretty vapid. Where it shines is its protagonist Birdy played by Bella Ramsey and its matter of fact approach to menstruation which (having done some basic research) has been surprisingly absent from coming of age stories. Only recently did “Turning Red” cause a ridiculous uproar for broaching the subject.

Overall, I don’t think I’m part of the “target demographic” (I hate those terms) and it will probably have a better chance to resonate with a particular audience. That said, I’ve enjoyed plenty of films whose target audience excludes me that I’ve enjoyed so draw upon that what you will. I’m outside the group consensus on this one so perhaps take what I say with a grain of salt particularly as I preceded watching this with something that may have tainted my palette.