Fantasia 2025 | Movie Review: A Familiar Narrative Holds "The Bearded Girl" Back
6/12 ForReel Score | 2.5/5 Stars
There was a time when we regarded circuses with awe. - when we'd file into circus grounds to see trapeze acts and contortionists, and wonders from far-off lands. But those days are largely in the past now. The Bearded Girl is a coming-of-age story set among the remnants of those days. Centred on a family of sword swallowing bearded women –a combination of two classic circus sideshow performers– it charts a familiar course through the trials of growing up and of leaving the nest for greener pastures only to find that green grass isn't necessarily all it's cracked up to be.
Cleo (Anwen O’Driscoll) is about to come of age as the leader of her clan, a lineage of bearded woman some 88 generations long. She's fierce and independent, which of course puts her at odds with her mother, Lady Andre (Jessica Paré), who is attempting to train her in both the ways of showmanship for their act and to take over the mantle of leadership for the entire circus community in which they live
Of course, being groomed for leadership is a lot of pressure, and Cleo feels trapped by the very traditions that Lady Andre celebrates and wants her to safeguard. Rather than stick around and live with regret, Cleo decides she needs to get out and live a little, to find her place in the world and a sense of who she is beyond being the titular bearded girl.
Herein lies The Bearded Girl's biggest flaw: you have definitely seen this movie before. This kind of story has a number of beats that all versions of its telling hit, regardless of whatever it is that sets the protagonist apart from society. First, they leave. Next, they attempt to blend in. After, they meet some regular folk who treat them kindness, to whom they eventually reveal their authentic self. Finally, they return home with a newfound strength based on either the acceptance or rejection (or both) that they found. It's a classic story, which is why it keeps getting retold.
Luckily, O'Driscoll gives an excellent performance here. She carries the entire film, and she wears her emotions directly on her face. As a person from a sheltered community, she starts with a wide-eyed naiveté and slowly grows into someone with a more earned understanding of the world. She bonds believably with Harold (Toby Hargrave), the kindly farmer who takes her in. They begin to form a father-daughter relationship, and director Jody Wilson (along with co-writers Blake Barrie and Thiago Gadelha) has given them just enough of a mutual arc to make that sweet and endearing. This storyline isn't given quite as much attention as the one involving Blaze (Keenan Tracey), the handsome dummy Cleo ends up hooking up with, which is a shame because it's actually the more interesting of the two. By the time the final act rolls around, you'll be rooting for Cleo and O'Driscoll both to succeed.
But again, this is definitely a story you have seen before, and it definitely has some limitations. Cleo leaves for the big city but never makes it out of the nearby small town, which means she isn't necessarily exposed to enough of the world to really grow up in the way the film asks her to. Similarly, Lady Andre has a whole subplot where she's fending off greedy real estate investors from taking away the land her circus commune lives on. While Paré is clearly having a good time in the role, the whole thing feels tacked on, and the villains feel like something out of a cartoon.
The Bearded Girl is a fine little film with a great central performance. It's not the kind of movie that anyone is going to get their big break from, but it's precisely the kind of movie that an executive might watch and say, "get me that woman for my next project". That's not nothing, but it's also not enough for anyone to go out of their way to see.
Acting and Casting - 2 | Visual Effects and Editing - 1 | Story and Message - 1 | Entertainment Value - 1 | Music Score and Soundtrack - 1 | Reviewer's Preference - 0 | What does this mean?