Review from RCR Entertainment Reporter, Fiona Zaring, Follow her on IG at @FionaZaring
Sean Hanish’s Saint Judy is the moving and timely story of real-life immigration lawyer Judy Wood. This brilliant women’s fascinating story was written for the screen by Dmitry Portnoy. Michelle Monaghan shines as the title character delivering a passionate and balanced performance. The film follows Judy as she moves to California and takes a job with an immigration law firm. Judy’s passion and dedication to her craft led her to a case that will not only impact her life forever but changes the asylum policies of the United States.
The film does an excellent job of portraying Judy as a hero, without backing away from her flaws. You see the complications her job places on her ability to spend time with her son, and you witness her struggles to keep her own life afloat. Her relationship with her ex husband (Peter Krause) is ugly because he believes that her dedication to her job outweighs her relationship with her son. Judy’s soft demeanor dissolves when she enters the courtroom, her sense of duty to her clients is her leading quality. The reality is, each case solved is just a small victory to Judy because she places the weight of all those who need a hero on her shoulders.
Judy’s enthusiasm for Asefa (Leem Lubany), an Afghan woman being held in a detention center, changes her life forever. This women’s quest for asylum leads Judy to open her own firm and hire her very own intern. In order to make a case for Asefa, she must wean her off the drugs her keepers have her hooked on and dig deep into her life story so she can fight for her right to asylum. We learn Asefa was threatened by the Taliban after fighting to empower women and attempting to start a school for girls. She came to America to seek asylum, but since at that time, no legalized protection for women battling a patriarchal establishment existed, her case seems hopeless.
Wood’s determination to fight for what’s right takes their case to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. There she makes the argument that if Asefa is sent back to Afghanistan, she will likely be the victim of an “honor killing” by the men who despise her activism. The court’s decision ultimately changes what the future looks like for women seeking asylum in America.
Saint Judy is out now in limited theaters.
For more information check out: https://www.saintjudymovie.com/
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Biography, Drama
Release: March 1st
