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As the days grow shorter and colder, the big prestige dramas will soon dominate the slow trickle of releases as theatres begin to open their doors once more. And though this new film will premiere via streaming services, it harkens back one of the critical and box office hits of last year. Despite its roots in comic book pulp, Joker was (for much of its runtime) a somber and sobering look at mental illness. Now we’re treated to a gender flip, minus the former film’s considerable body count, set “across the pond” in what appears to be the recent past (guessing the early to mid-90s). Oh, and the story’s main focus is played by the celebrated star of a recent Best Picture Oscar winner. But with its portrait of internal psychological struggle, just how does it concern Eternal Beauty?

The film begins with a flashback to...

You cannot just watch part of Craig Roberts’ latest film Eternal Beauty. You might think you could since it’s seemingly as schizophrenic as its lead character Jane (Sally Hawkins), but that chaos is premeditated so that it can find tonal and thematic sense by the end. I was about twenty minutes in when “hate” started to solidify as a reaction to what I saw because it felt like Roberts was poking fun at the disease—purely using Hawkins’ monotone delivery and erratic actions for laughs. If I had stopped then, however, I wouldn’t have been exposed to the glimpses into her past or the trauma she’s suffered or the dramatic weight that comes with realizing nothing on-screen is trustworthy. I wouldn’t have discovered exactly how empathetic Roberts’ depiction truly proves.

It’s not about laughs (at least not solely). This is a very personal project for...