Judi Dench and Steve Coogan in a scene from Philomena. Courtesy The Weinstein Company / AP Photo
Judi Dench and Steve Coogan in a scene from Philomena. Courtesy The Weinstein Company / AP Photo

Film review: Philomena



Philomena Director: Stephen Frears Starring: Judi Dench, Steve Coogan, Mare Winningham, Anna Maxwell Martin ⋆⋆⋆⋆

According to Steve Coogan, the starting point for Philomena was not the real-life source book by Martin Sixsmith but a photograph. A picture of the BBC journalist and his subject Philomena Lee sitting on a bench, it seemingly sums up this poignant odd couple tale – one that failed to win any gongs at the Golden Globes on Sunday but is still in the running for four Baftas.

Played with perception by Judi Dench, Philomena is an elderly Irish Catholic – sweet in nature and simple in tastes. Back when she was a teenager living in Ireland, she fell pregnant and her family put her in a convent in Roscrea. After giving birth, the nuns sold her young child to an American couple; a shocking, shameful event.

Five decades on, and on her son’s birthday, she has a little too much to drink and reveals all to her grown-up daughter (Anna Maxwell Martin). It leads them to Sixsmith (Coogan), who is experiencing a career implosion when the women petition him to help Philomena track down her long-lost son. Initially reluctant – he doesn’t do “human-interest stories” he says, with almost a sneer – he eventually relents.

Directed by Stephen Frears, who previously worked with Dench on 2005’s Mrs Henderson Presents, what follows is a tragicomic odyssey as Sixsmith takes Philomena back to the convent, only to be met by a quiet conspiracy of silence surrounding the institution’s dirty secret. Eventually, the trail leads the mismatched pair to Washington DC.

The humour is deliciously played; in one airport-set scene, while on the back of an electric cart ferrying them to their gate, Philomena takes great pains in telling her male companion the plot of a trashy-sounding romantic novel. It’s a brilliant piece of comic acting by Dench, who plays her character with just the right amount of wide-eyed wonder.

Adapted by Coogan and Jeff Pope from Sixsmith’s book The Lost Child of Philomena Lee, the film may lack political complexity, but it still has teeth. The increasing indignation that Coogan’s character feels towards the Catholic Church, versus the religious Philomena’s capacity to forgive, makes for an interesting, thought-provoking dynamic.

Frears directs in his usual unfussy manner, letting his actors get on with the business of acting while he ever-so-subtly pulls the strings. It may not be as moving as The Queen, his last big-screen bio-pic, but it’s a rich, resonant piece.

In numbers: China in Dubai

The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000

Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000

Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000

Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000

Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent

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Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha

Starring: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shantanu Maheshwari, Jimmy Shergill, Saiee Manjrekar

Director: Neeraj Pandey

Rating: 2.5/5

COMPANY PROFILE

Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed 

COMPANY PROFILE

Company: Bidzi

● Started: 2024

● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid

● Based: Dubai, UAE

● Industry: M&A

● Funding size: Bootstrapped

● No of employees: Nine

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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Airev
Started: September 2023
Founder: Muhammad Khalid
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: Generative AI
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47