‘Catherine Called Birdy’: Toronto Review

Dir: Lena Dunham. UK. 2022. 108mins.

Set in 13th century England, where a fiercely independent 14-year-old girl refuses to be married off by her desperate father, Catherine Called Birdy is a sweet, amusing comedy that takes aim at too many easy targets. This adaptation of Karen Cushman’s 1994 novel is most intriguing in how it further explores the themes that have engaged writer-director Lena Dunham throughout her career. But despite Bella Ramsey’s endearingly impudent turn as the titular teen, the film ends up being a superficial attack on the patriarchy, failing to be as biting or delightful as one might hope.

A lighthearted approach that grows warmer and more confident over the course of the picture

Catherine Called Birdy launches out of Toronto before debuting on Prime Video on October 7. (The film will receive a limited release in the US and UK starting September 23). The Girls creator tends to be a divisive figure, although this summer’s Sharp Stick failed to attract much attention. Still, the medieval trappings, combined with a cast that includes Andrew Scott, Billie Piper and Joe Alwyn, might make this a modest streaming success; especially among tweens and teenagers. 

Ramsey plays Lady Catherine, who narrates her story through voiceover. (Her words come from a diary she is keeping.) Because her father, Lord Rollo (Scott), is dangerously low on funds, he announces that he’ll entertain offers for Catherine’s hand in marriage, even though she’s only 14. Determined not to be wed, Catherine (who also goes by Birdy) hides the fact that she has started menstruating from her father, hoping that he’ll delay his decision until he knows she’s officially a woman. In the meantime, she schemes with her best friend Aelis (Isis Hainsworth) on how to stay single forever, even though they live at a time when such dreams are nearly impossible for women.

This is Dunham’s fourth feature, including her hour-long 2009 debut Creative Nonfiction, and like Tiny Furniture and Sharp Stick, Catherine Called Birdy is concerned with a young woman trying to find herself while living in the shadow of a complicated family situation. The films also share deep misgivings about romantic relationships, which often seem impossibly fraught. 

But although Catherine Called Birdy takes place in the early 1290s, Dunham doesn’t try to overly modernise the proceedings; an obvious exception being singer Misty Miller’s earnest cover versions of hits like ‘Fade Into You’ and ‘My Boyfriend’s Back.’ That said, Catherine couldn’t be more contemporary in her dismissal of traditional attitudes about marriage and women’s subservience to men. Ramsey, perhaps best known for her work on Game Of Thrones, plays Catherine with a tart tongue and an impertinent attitude, although her insecurities and introspective manner mark her as someone who could have been friends with the central characters from Girls. 

Catherine’s one true love is her sensitive, hunky Uncle George, played with charm and grace by Alwyn. But, alas, she cannot be with him, a bitter realisation that cuts even deeper once someone close to her ends up winning his favour. Meanwhile, Catherine must remain on high alert, steadfastly resisting the unworthy (and only rarely sufficiently comically inept) suitors Rollo sends her way. But eventually her ruse of hiding her periods is uncovered, forcing Catherine to face the possibility that her freedom may be coming to an end.

Surprisingly, though, the period setting, bolstered by Kave Quinn and Andrea Matheson’s modest but effective production design, tends to shackle Dunham’s comedic sensibilities. 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. One longs for a bolder, more incisive take — instead, Dunham opts for a lighthearted approach that admittedly grows warmer and more confident over the course of the picture. Quite likely, the often sexually provocative filmmaker is tailoring the picture to younger audiences, which is only fitting considering that the source material catered to readers about Catherine’s age. 

As Catherine’s loving, long-suffering mother Lady Aislinn, who has experienced several stillbirths, each one more emotionally scarring than the last, Piper quietly evokes an era when women had rich inner lives but were compelled to be breeders. Scott tends to overplay the ineffectual Rollo, although in the film’s final sections, the character locates his spine, leading to some touching scenes. Yet, Catherine Called Birdy is something of a missed opportunity, a tale that doesn’t quite have enough nerve or wit — the rare Lena Dunham project that feels toned down, but also a bit tame.