PARK CITY, UTAH Feb. 2 (UPI) — Josephine, which won Jury and audience awards at the Sundance Film Festival, is a powerful drama about parents honestly having difficult conversations with their child. Because there is no right way to have them, the drama is in the attempts.
While playing in the park with her father, Josephine (Mason Reeves) witnesses a rape. As if explaining that to an 8-year-old wasn’t hard enough, Josephine is the only witness, so is called upon further.
Explaining honestly what rape is, even without explaining sex, still triggers a unique way of processing as a child. Sometimes Josephine drops the word “rape” on the playground.
The attack provokes empathy in Josephine, asking her mother, Claire (Gemma Chan) if she was ever raped. Claire’s answer suggests ambiguity.
Josephine is also too young to understand consensual sex. The violent form preempted her entire understanding of intimacy.
Other times she acts out in a toy store or lashes out at the school bully. In a clear visual manifestation, the rapist (Philip Ettinger) paces around Josephine’s house because she can never stop seeing him.
Her father, Damien (Channing Tatum) wants to enroll Josephine in self-defense classes. He is in preparation and fixing mode as if random overpowering violence can be contained.
Claire and Damien try to have more conversations about Josephine’s choices. They are not lying to protect her, but both parents disagree on priority.
Damien is protective and wants Josephine to testify so the rapist goes to jail. Claire is trying not to taint her childhood.
He also fails to see the nuance. Claire knows that testimony might not lead to a conviction. Sometimes there is no justice.
Even if there is, Det. Collins (Nate Duncan) confirms the maximum sentence would be eight years. Josephine has reason to fear retaliation when he’s out.
The survivor (Syra McCarthy) even moved away, an understandable choice not to relive her trauma.
It’s important to show how stacked against doing the right thing the system is. This isn’t to discourage people from coming forward, but to encourage the rest of society to support them. It’s not as simple as “testify” when one can become collateral damage.
Ideally, every child will get to mature in their own time but unfortunately the world often decides for them. Josephine writer/director Beth de Araújo provides an incisive look at how kids process the adult world early.
Fred Topel, who attended film school at Ithaca College, is a UPI entertainment writer based in Los Angeles. He has been a professional film critic since 1999, a Rotten Tomatoes critic since 2001, and a member of the Television Critics Association since 2012 and the Critics Choice Association since 2023. Read more of his work in Entertainment.
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