Based on the Henry James novella, the story frames on 7-year-old Maisie, caught in a custody battle between her mother – a rock and roll icon – and her father. What Maisie Knew is an evocative portrayal of the chaos of adult life seen entirely from a child’s point of view.
TF:
In 2001, directors Scott McGehee and David Siegel made The Deep End, a deeply affecting study of just how far a parent might go for their child.
What Maisie Knew, seamlessly adapted from Henry James’ 1897 novel, is the polar opposite, showing just how little a mother and father consider the feelings of their charge as they use her in an emotional tug-of-war to get back at each other.
McGehee and Siegel never succumb to sentimentality, even though they dangerously skirt close to it at times.
On the other hand, it’s filled with moments that’ll make you ache; the aftershock of divorce has rarely seemed so ugly, upsetting and unsettling.
Capturing the essence of the source novel, this is a superior adult drama. Harrowing, heartbreaking but utterly compelling.
THR: Alexander Skarsgard has joined Julianne Moore and Steve Coogan in What Maisie Knew, an adaptation of the Henry James novel set in contemporary New York from co-directors Scott McGehee and David Siegel.
