Catherine Called Birdy review – Medieval satire brings the laughs

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But, if you are prepared to stick with her new film through its flat opening half hour, you will find the talented writer-director is a perfect fit for Karen Cushman’s 1994 comic coming-of-age novel.

Game Of Thrones star Bella Ramsey is the skittish heroine of the title who must negotiate the perils of womanhood in 13th-century Lincolnshire.

For the first 14 years of her life, she has been largely ignored by her amusingly feckless father (Andrew Scott) and constantly pregnant mother (Billie Piper). Now she finds all eyes in Stonebridge Manor are suddenly on her.

To her horror, Birdy has just experienced the first monthly ordeal that her nurse (Lesley Sharp) calls The Lady In Red (Chris de Burgh will not be happy). And, with her aristocratic parents facing financial ruin, this means she is ready to be sold into the servitude of a medieval marriage.

As Birdy hatches ingenious and joyfully childish schemes to put off her suitors, the laughs begin to pile up, and Dunham’s take on Cusham’s novel has the irreverence of a feminist Blackadder.

The soundtrack, which features covers of Supergrass’s Alright and Billie Piper’s Honey To The Bee, can grate but the casting is faultless.

Paul Kaye is horribly funny as a randy wool magnate, Ramsey is a delight, and Scott times his shift from comic villain to big-hearted hero to perfection.

Catherine Called Birdy is streaming on Amazon Prime Video now (certificate 12).

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