A One Mann’s Movies review of “Prima Facie”. (From the 2026 London Film Festival). (2026, 3.5*, NR).
Having been wowed by the brilliance of Jodie Comer’s one-woman show, my fear of going into this film version of Suzie Miller’s harrowing tale was that I would feel disappointed and short-changed. But, in the event ‘Prima Facie: The Movie’ worked very well for me, using the added freedoms of a broader cast to open up more of the backstory of Tessa Ensler without diminishing the damning conclusion.
One Mann’s Movies Rating:
Plot:
Tessa (Cynthia Erivo) is an ambitious barrister, used to winning and dominating in the courtroom by defending men accused of sexual assault. But when she unexpectedly becomes the accuser in a sexual assault case, she is forced to confront the legal system that she once trusted.
Certification:
UK: NR; US: NR. (This film has not yet received a classification by the BBFC, but I would expect it to be a 15 based on strong language and upsetting scenes of sexual assault.)
Talent:
Starring: Cynthia Erivo, Daniel Ings, Toheeb Jimoh, Noma Dumezweni, Elliot Levey, Sarah Junillon, Elizabeth Dulau, Simon Russell Beale, Harry Treadaway, Bronagh Waugh, Elliot Levey.
Directed by: Susanna White.
Written by: Suzie Miller.
Running Time: 1h 46m.
Review:
Positives:
- Cynthia Erivo – as I fully expected – is a powerhouse in this role. The opening shot of Tessa marching into the Old Bailey cements in your mind as a viewer all of the things the director wants you to know about her: assured, confident, 100% professional. She is a woman who “plays well the game of law” and has been recommended for the junior barrister award at her chambers. She sees her competitors at the bar as elegant stallions, but is undoubtedly a stallion of the craft herself.
- The film hinges on us seeing the legal system from both sides and with Tessa “handling a lot of sex cases” we usefully see how easily she demolishes a sexual assault case. Afterwards, her trainee associate Phoebe asks her “But do you think he was guilty”. “It doesn’t matter”, snaps back Tessa, “It’s not my job to decide”.
- Which brings us to our protagonist, Julian Brooks, played really well by Daniel Ings. Ings portrays an amiable, confident everyman… (“not all men”… but this one). The harrowing sexual assault, when it happens, is obviously rape: but it is almost as nuanced as that in the excellent film “How to have Sex“… sexual activity after previous sex but without consent. You can see Julian, obviously nervous about what he’s done to their relationship, but shrugging it off as “oh, we were both a bit drunk – these things happen”. As a viewer I could squint a bit and believe that he would genuinely think that.
- Unlike the stage play, we build more backstory to Tessa’s life. We see she has come from a deprived background in Tilbury, a poor-girl made good via a scholarship to Oxbridge. Her mother, June (Noma Dumezweni), is a cleaner and her brother Johnny (Toheeb Jimoh) is a bit of a wastrel, with a chip on his shoulder about Tessa’s success, quick to anger and always hanging out with the wrong local crowd. I’ve read some reviews that say this is creating “a second film in this one” but I couldn’t disagree more: I felt it all added extra colour and depth to the story; a sense that there was a heavy dose of imposter syndrome going on in there underneath the confidence and bravado.
- The events leading up to the trial are well handled and I loved the reality that it doesn’t happen until “1,107 days after the rape”. All of that stress and tension for so many years. As Tessa adds as a voiceover “All I do is breath and wait. Breath and wait.” The courtroom scenes are well done and of particular interest to my daughter Jenn who is a stenographer and has worked at the Old Bailey. (She, of course, having witnessed dozens of these trials first hand had a view on what the verdict would be!)
- A quick nod to the costume design in the film by Suzie Harman. Although she is lumbered by having to adopt the formal courtroom wear for much of the running time, Tessa’s ‘downtime’ wear all feels very Tessa. The outfit she wears for a riverside walk with Julian (Daniel Ings) makes her look stunning.
Negatives:
- I mean, for me, nothing can beat the intensity of that one-woman show. So the film is rather on a losing wicket from the get-go.
- I found the closing discussion between Tessa and a journalist Rachel Myers (Bronagh Waugh) to be a little clunky and heavy-handed. A stark set of titles with the data (see Summary) would have sufficed to hammer the point home.
Summary Thoughts:
As is documented prior to the end titles, “Only 1 in 10 sexual assaults are reported to police. And of these, only 1 in 10 lead to a conviction”. Although not broken out, I’d guess that most of these are assaults of men against women. These are shocking statistics, but can we be surprised when “grabbing them by the pussy” is apparently an acceptable brag by the leader of the first-world?
Having been on a jury, comprised of twelve members of the public who are “good and true”, my impression was that many of them lacked the mental acuity to see through the ripostes of the prosecution and defence lawyers to come to a fair and just decision. I strongly feel that the British jury system should be abolished and that decisions of guilt and innocence should be assessed by a smaller team of learned magistrates (just like in Superman 2!) Hell, I’d even believe that an AI could do a better job, of weighing up all of the conflicting evidence and witness statements and determining a guilty or not guilty verdict, than 12 random members of the public! But I agree with Tessa that “They need justice. Something has to change.”
Where to watch?
Trailer:
The trailer for the film is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnhynwj29Ew
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