Penguin Bloom (2020)

Directed by: Glendyn Ivin | 95 minutes | drama | Actors: Naomi Watts, Andrew Lincoln, Felix Cameron, Griffin Murray-Johnston, Abe Clifford-Barr, Jacki Weaver, Lisa Hensley, Leeanna Walsman, Gia Carides, Rachel House

Happiness is a fragile thing. The sporty Sam Bloom makes this discovery when she is on holiday in Thailand with her family. There is a roof terrace, a dangerous railing, a deep fall and an ambulance. After this accident, Sam is paralyzed for three quarters, which leads to a severe depression. Husband Cameron does his best to support her, but he hits a wall with Sam. The three young sons deal with it in their own way, with the sensitive Noah increasingly feeling guilty about the accident.

And then Noah finds a young magpie that has fallen from a nest. He takes the animal home where it is given the name Penguin. The magpie soon becomes part of the family and is one of the few bright spots in her life for the paralyzed Sam. Those two have something in common too. While Sam can’t walk, the young magpie just can’t fly.

This true story forms the basis for the drama ‘Penguin Bloom’. It describes a timeless story about the resilience of humans, the complex dynamics of families and nature as an apprenticeship. As is often the case in such stories, help ultimately comes from outside. In this case not only from the magpie but also from a kayak instructor, who ensures that Sam regains some confidence and dignity.

Nice ingredients for a drama, although the fact that this production comes from Australia is not very reassuring. In Australian film culture subtlety is often hard to find (see ‘Mad Max’, ‘The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert’ and ‘Shine’) and in the case of a drama like ‘Penguin Bloom’ it takes revenge. While the events are already miserable enough, here we get crying, rage and other imposed sentiment on top of it. Every scene that starts cheerfully degenerates after a few minutes into noisy hyperdrama with worn-out symbolism as an extra.

Too bad, because otherwise ‘Penguin Bloom’ is fine. Beautiful images, excellent acting, sympathetic story and ditto characters. Unfortunately, the attempts at humor (at least we think that’s the point) don’t really work, while the film could have used them well. All this makes ‘Penguin Bloom’ a decent and enjoyable tearjerker, which could have been a heartbreaking drama.