Prima Facie Review

In understanding the legal system and the highs and lows of it, a lead must provide not just a cutting through of potential jargon, but a reason to care for it. Prima Facie has a rare blend of strong lead and message tied too closely to the profession it looks to discuss and encounter. Barristers and the work they provide. Those unknowable souls whose job is to, well, who knows what their job is. That is one of the many moral lines this Jodie Comer-starring piece manages to encapsulate. Not just the fear of being put on the witness box or the unjust system that batters good people down, but of those on the other side, and how they may feel about putting down those whose position they are fortunate enough to not yet be in.

What it details so well throughout is the fear, the anxiety. The tables are turned on a barrister who has seen those squirm in the witness box not out of guilt but out of doubt for themselves. That turn is crucial to Prima Facie. It balances its whole premise on how well Comer can sell that final third. It is extraordinary. Beyond the stunning performance at the heart of this Suzie Miller-written production are the smaller details, the bits and pieces that come together not just to give Comer something to do on stage but to give meaning and reason, something to think about. The split of the table, the swaying of a lamp. It’s unknowable whether that moment is accidental or purposeful, but Prima Facie pulls it off without a hitch. Comer is a natural.

Underlying that tense, distressing message is an angle of competitive spirit so frequently seen in barristers. That drive exhibited by Comer marks that fine line between wanting to change the system from within and pushing against stereotypes of the bar and those within it. Comer’s utilisation of regional dialect is, more than anything, a reminder of the steps still needed and the hurdles to vault in the space of regional representation not in film, but in the growing world around it. The acceptability of voice and accent. Considering just how few features there are to accurately depict cultural entities, Prima Facie is not just a breath of fresh air for the post-MeToo era of content, but a regionally specific, broader understanding of what is expected of those in positions not of power, but of those that must produce consistent efficacy in a field dominated by old terms and older ideals.

As it turns out though, some of Prima Facie is lost when a bottle deep into the watered-down wine of whatever the cinema was offering. What can be remembered is good. What cannot be remembered is probably good too. Where and when it needs to, Prima Facie is a tool for cutting through an overbearing and often drowned-out discussion. It does so with class, skill, and Comer is in fine form throughout. Was that any surprise, though? Whether it’ll shake anyone to their core is entirely up to the person watching. Good luck to those that have that feeling, they’ve found themselves in the witness box of their own desire and fear. That much is terrifying. Prima Facie is one of the few films to create that consistent dread, that spark of anger flickers brighter and brighter as Comer’s one-woman performance goes on.