Our take
This moving biopic is about Maud Lewis, the legendary Canadian painter who suffered from arthritis. In the film, Maud gets away from her controlling family by finding a job as a live-in housekeeper for a local fish peddler. It is there where she begins to paint, before marrying the fish peddler in spite of their different personalities. Sally Hawkins, who plays Lewis, brings undeniable spark and soul to the role, for which she had to undergo an astonishing physical transformation.
Maudie is a beautiful and uncomplicated film that challenges the conventions of marriage and relationship roles, while at the same time celebrating Maud Lewis’ paintings and life’s simple pleasures.
Streaming arrival
The story
Canadian folk artist Maud Lewis falls in love with a fishmonger while working for him as a live-in housekeeper.
Elsewhere
"A big performance at the centre of rather a modest film."
— David Jenkins
The details
Who picked it
Sonia Botsarova is a film and culture writer who explores the intersections between cinema and geography in her work on A Reel Trip and Medium. Her writing focuses on world cinema, with particular interest in the cinemas of Central Asia and underrepresented regions.
"Walsh shapes Hawkins and Hawke's interplay so that the film registers as a bizarre-couple love story... These actors conjure a deep nonverbal bond that defies explanation."
— Michael Sragow