Joy

Joy is the story of the development of IVF, and specifically the role of Jean Purdy in that world-changing process - a woman whose contribution to the research and treatment was too often written out of history. That a woman's contribution should be written out of this, of all stories is of course a deeply ironic injustice; and the film is seeking to do for this injustice what Hidden Figures did for a similar injustice in the history of the American space programme. Thomasin McKenzie is excellent - as she usually is - in the lead role, and Bill Nighy is well used as one of the surgeons. The story is, of course, inspiring and uplifting, but I can't help but feel that such a remarkable and important story deserves a better film. It's fine as it is - and it does improve as it goes on. But the script in particular does too much exposition, especially in the early stages; some of that may be felt to be necessary in a story that science plays such a role in. But the result is that it takes too much of its running time to really feel emotionally engaging. More character depth, a little more nuance in some of the issues the story raises would have led to something that felt even more worthy of the remarkable raw historical material. The process is interesting - but this is fundamentally a story about people. And whilst it's hard not to be moved by the end of the film, I can't help but wish for a production that was more emotionally engaging throughout.

The film follows the journey of the three people - visionary scientist Robert Edwards, innovative surgeon Patrick Steptoe, and pioneering nurse Jean Purdy - who teamed up to make the procedure a reality, with special focus placed on the often overlooked role Purdy played in the breakthrough. As someone who is currently 34 weeks pregnant through IVF after years of infertility, I found this film deeply moving and beautifully documented. It gave me a renewed appreciation for the people who have made IVF possible. While my personal experience might make me a bit biased towards this film, I'm confident this film will resonate with anyone who has undergone infertility treatments. Highly recommend!

As a grandfather of two delightful children born as a result of my daughter's IVF treatment I found this to be a fascinating and moving film to watch. The lead actors all gave excellent performances and the story was well told. I well remember the publicity surrounding Louise's birth as my son was born a few months later. Other reviewers have pointed out some inaccuracies in the story but not knowing those didn't detract from the enjoyment of the film. The perseverance and dedication of Patrick Steptoe, Bob Edwards and Jean Purdy to develop the techniques required to succeed was well portrayed as well as the difficulties they faced with opposition from the church and medical establishment together with the sensational reporting of the tabloid press.

I can't believe fifty years ago people were against babies being born. We've clearly come very far both in terms of medical advancements and critical thinking and we still have a long way to go, but fifty years seems not that long ago.

Also, I can't believe Jean's mom. Hardline believers are mystifying for sure. And I wonder how much of Jean's life in this movie is fiction for the sake of the movie. Anyway, it's such a shame she died so young, I'm sure there was so much more she could have accomplished.

I didn't find this boring at all. I know most people find it lacking, but I didn't. It's a good story. It's amusing again that the actors look nothing like the actual people they're portraying, and you can see where I'm going with this. But I'm part of the audience that likes to see attractive and well put together people on screen, so I'd be a hypocrite to complain, right? Also, at this point Bill Nighy makes any movie better just by sitting there.

Loved every second of it, pacing was perfect. Narrative moved so smoothly filled with emotion and human beauty. In a world filled with harm and brutality, stories like these renews my faith in humanity and its purity to make good. It shows how inventions that people take for granted had been so unattainable so far away, until someone somewhere had the patience to make it true and change history for millions of people.

If you love appreciation of hard work, of virtue, of scientific development that changed the world as we know. This is a must watch that truly deserve your time and. Couldn't recommend it enough.