Philomena: Dame Judi Dench’s greatest screen performance finally comes to Netflix

Philomena (M, 98mins) Directed by Stephen Frears ****½

He used to the BBC’s man in Moscow. But now Martin Sixsmith (Steve Coogan) is out of work.

Sacked by the Labour government in the wake of a “burying bad news” scandal, he’s become mildly depressed trying to clear his name.

With thoughts of writing a personal history gagged by his former employers, he starts looking for freelance work. However, he’s horrified to discover that hard news has become increasingly replaced by “human interest” stories.

“I don’t do them. They are about and read by weak-minded, vulnerable, ignorant people,” he sniffs.

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These words initially repulse Jane (Anna Maxwell Martin), but she’s determined that her mother’s tragic story needs to be told. Irishwoman Philomena Lee (Dame Judi Dench) became pregnant with a son as a teen and having been in a convent since the age of 6, is allowed to stay on by the nuns in return for working in the laundry.

However, conditions are less than conducive to mother-son bonding. Allowed access for only an hour a day to her beloved Anthony, Philomena lives in dread of the day when the adoption clause of the contract she signed kicks in, which inevitably it does.

Half-a-century on, she still wonders what happened to her boy and if she could have given him a better life.

Intrigued by her story, Sixsmith decides to accompany Philomena back to Ireland and finds himself barely able to contain his anger when the “Sisters of Little Mercy” offer only tea and cake, claiming that all their adoption records were destroyed in a fire and yet “the one piece of paper which has been lovingly kept pristine” is her contract.

Incensed by such seeming callousness, he promises Philomena that he will find Anthony.

Based on real-life events recorded in Sixsmith’s 2009 book The Lost Child of Philomena Lee, veteran British director Stephen Frears’ (The Queen, Dangerous Liaisons) involving drama is one guaranteed to raise the emotions. A tale filled with twists and turns (it doesn’t play out in a traditional Hollywood way), Philomena is punctuated by two terrific performances by the always reliable Dench (Belfast) and a surprisingly serious Steve Coogan (The Lost King).

The pair’s chemistry is cracking – the class and social divide is obvious, and yet they bond over their shared mission and Philomena’s love of Reader’s Digest, the Daily Mail and romantic fiction.

The script, written by Coogan and The Lost King’s Jeff Pope, offers them plenty of memorable lines and chances to emote, without overplaying the “nasty nun” or melodramatic moments, while Frears keeps the fractured flashback narrative under control and makes great use of reflections and Alexandre Desplat’s (Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio) evocative, playful score.

Philomena is now available to stream on Netflix, as well as TVNZ+.