Synopsis
A teenage girl in Medieval England navigates life and tries to avoid the arranged marriages her father maps out for her.
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Cast
- Bella RamseyBirdy
- Billie PiperLady Aislinn
- Andrew ScottLord Rollo
- Lesley SharpMorwenna
- Joe AlwynUncle George
- Sophie OkonedoEthelfritha Rose Splinter of Devon
- Paul KayeSir John Henry Murgaw aka Shaggy Beard
- Dean-Charles ChapmanRobert
- Isis HainsworthAelis
- Archie RenauxEdward the Monk
Recommendations
- 100
The Playlist
Catherine Called Birdy is delightfully witty, irrelevant, and modern-minded while carefully dodging the self-satisfaction and smugness that those descriptors can conjure up. - 91
IndieWire
Catherine Called Birdy is so good, so raucous and wild and wise and witty, that it not only makes me eager to write in alliterative adjectives, but to reconsider my views on everything else she’s made in recent years. It’s wonderful. - 90
Variety
The movie wouldn’t have worked half as well had Dunham not discovered Ramsey, a “Game of Thrones” veteran soon to be seen in HBO’s “The Last of Us.” The young actor has a face one might find in a medieval Madonna portrait and a rowdy contemporary sensibility that makes her instantly relatable. - 90
The Hollywood Reporter
The real star of the show is Dunham, whose sharp dialogue and direction equips every actor with an acidic tongue and knowing gaze. - 80
New York Magazine (Vulture)
It doesn’t water down her voice. Instead, the self-lacerating, self-consumed filmmaker seems liberated by the act of adaptation, as though tempering her distinctive creative impulses gives her rein to make a movie that’s tender and more broadly crowd-pleasing, while still very much her own. - 75
New York Post
Dunham has made a really attractive and cohesive film, merging her modern, punky sensibilities with the dirt-and-stone drear of the time period. - 60
Screen Rant
Bolstered by a headstrong performance from Ramsey (who is best known as Lyanna Mormont from Game of Thrones), alongside a fantastic supporting cast, Catherine Called Birdy will be best enjoyed by a younger audience, though it’s still fun enough for viewers of all ages. - 50
Screen Daily
Neither a broad farce nor a scathing evisceration of sexism (both then and now), Catherine Called Birdy ends up trapped in a dissatisfying middle ground between those two extremes, a tonal decision that results in only mild laughs and somewhat engaging characters.
