This is the real life retelling of the life of the man who created Wonder Woman. The movie has all the trappings of a tasteful period piece: the true-story
origins, the tweedy collegiate setting, the to-die-for costumes. But
beneath all that, it aims to shake you up, make you think and even squirm a bit.
At the film’s start in the mid-1940s, William Marston (played by Luke Evans)—who
created Wonder Woman under the pseudonym Charles Moulton—is being
interrogated about the character’s scandalous, sadomasochistic imagery
by the head of the Child Study Association of America, the uptight
Josette Frank.
Flashbacks to 1928, when he was a Harvard psychology professor working
alongside his brilliant wife, Elizabeth (Rebecca Hall), shed light on the source
of this aesthetic.
Where Marston was all
charm and charisma and good looks, Elizabeth was sharp-witted and
no-nonsense. The energy between the two crackles long before they begin
sharing their lab—and, eventually, their bed—with Olive Byrne
(Heathcote), a Radcliffe student who initially enters their lives as a
research assistant. The couple can’t deny their joint attraction for the
bright, beautiful blonde—and she, in turn, falls for them both, which
she’s forced to admit in an exquisitely tense scene involving an early
version of a lie detector. The Marstons are crediting with coming up
with the device, which is an interesting dual legacy for them. It is an intense movie, with lots to recommend it, but it does not shy away from the edges of sexuality, so be forewarned.
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