BY JACOB VAN HOUTAN, STAFF WRITER

The film, “Professor Marston and the Wonder Women,” is about the real life story of Wonder Woman creator William Moulton Marston (played by Luke Evans) and his polyamorous relationship between his wife, Elizabeth Marston (played by Rebecca Hall) and his mistress, Olivia Byrne (played by Bella Heathcote). Angela Robinson wrote and directed the film, and while she directed “Herbie: Fully Loaded,” most of her work in the past decade has been on television shows like “The L Word” and “True Blood.”

“Professor Marston and the Wonder Women” is a super interesting film. The story is about this polyamorous relationship that develops while Marston is a professor at Radcliffe University. Evans is dynamic and is truly fantastic in this role. I loved how progressive his character was, and I really thought his struggle with his beliefs was an interesting problem to face back in the 1930s. The relationship the three of them have is something that I feel most people still don’t respect, which not only guarantees it as a problem 75 years ago, but still today.

Rebecca Hall is absolutely fierce in this role. Her character is part of the inspiration for Marston creating the character of Wonder Woman, and she really shows you why. She is one of the strongest characters this year, and she gives a terrific performance all the way through. I haven’t seen Bella Heathcote in any other films, but she also delivers a terrific performance. She represents the more innocent inspiration to the character of Wonder Woman, and she really shows that on screen very well.

I appreciated this film most for how progressive it was with its ideas and themes. It really gave the audience a window into how these real people thought about life. This film is very empowering to plenty of audiences, especially women. The film is constantly remarking how great women unhindered can be, and it sheds light on the faults of men. There are only a couple moments in this film that felt jarring to the plot or story, and none of them affected my enjoyment too much.

“Professor Marston and the Wonder Women” is a really good film that explores plenty of themes about femininity and BDSM much better than either of the “50 Shades” films. The performances are well crafted with well defined characters. I would definitely recommend checking this one out.

This article first appeared in the Friday, October 20, 2017, Edition of The Echo.