Cynthia Erivo’s Prima Facie premieres in Toronto amid mixed review
Suzie Miller’s acclaimed one-person play reaches the screen with Erivo as a criminal barrister confronting the legal system she once mastered.
The film adaptation of Suzie Miller’s Prima Facie has premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, with Cynthia Erivo taking on the role most closely associated with Jodie Comer’s acclaimed stage performances.
Erivo plays Tessa, a successful London criminal barrister whose career is disrupted after she reports being raped by a colleague and becomes the complainant in a case. The film follows her towards a trial in which her motives and character face intense scrutiny.
Miller’s award-winning 2019 play was built around the force of a single performer. The film, directed by Susanna White, expands that format with supporting characters and depicts events that were previously presented as recollection.
The adaptation also introduces a three-year gap between Tessa’s police report and the trial. In The Guardian’s review, that structural choice, along with the film’s more procedural approach, is said to limit the story’s emotional depth and weaken its stage intensity.
The Guardian describes the result as bland and conventional, arguing that the film’s exploration of sexual assault and the difficulty of securing justice is delivered too bluntly. Erivo’s performance is praised for its focus and rigour, though the review says the role gives her less to play than the stage production offered.
Prima Facie is currently seeking distribution. No distributor or release date has been announced in the available source.
