Skip to footer

Film adaptation of 'The Lost Child of Philomena Lee' stars Judi Dench, Steve Coogan

A movie adaptation of writer Martin Sixsmith's book stars Judi Dench as a woman looking for her long-lost son and Coogan as Sixsmith.

|
Joel Ryan/Invision/AP
Judi Dench stars in 'Philomena.'
  • By Molly Driscoll Staff Writer

A trailer for the film adaptation of the book “The Lost Child of Philomena Lee” has been released, showing legendary actress Judi Dench in the lead role and Steve Coogan playing a journalist helping her find her son.

The book “Philomena,” written by Martin Sixsmith (whom Coogan portrays in the film), was written in 2009 and tells the true story of a woman named Philomena who becomes pregnant and is sent to a convent. When her baby is born, he’s brought to America for adoption and Philomena signs a document promising she’ll never look for him. She does, however, try to find him for the rest of her life and her son does the same despite the fact that the convent where his mother lived refuses to help him.

The film, titled simply "Philomena," is being directed by Stephen Frears, who was also behind the 2006 movie “The Queen” starring Helen Mirren.

Indiewire writer Oliver Lyttelton noted that Dench will probably be the subject of awards season buzz for the film, writing that “the first trailer for the picture … suggest[s] she might well be in with a shout when Oscar season nears.”

The movie is set to debut at the Venice Film Festival on Aug. 31. It’s scheduled to come out in the UK Nov. 1, but no US release date has yet been set.

Check out the full trailer.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Film adaptation of 'The Lost Child of Philomena Lee' stars Judi Dench, Steve Coogan
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Books/chapter-and-verse/2013/0813/Film-adaptation-of-The-Lost-Child-of-Philomena-Lee-stars-Judi-Dench-Steve-Coogan
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe