Intrigued as I was by this movie, I wanted to learn if it was based on a true story. It's not specifically, although there is a documented case of a ten year old Welsh girl named Sarah Jacob who gained notoriety in the 1860's who claimed to have stopped eating at the age of ten. She was known as The Welsh Fasting Girl, and as in the story here, was placed under surveillance for two weeks to see if she was really not eating. She passed away when her parents refused to send her nurses away and were convicted of manslaughter in their daughter's death. The writer of the novel upon which this film was based, Emma Donoghue, was almost certainly inspired by the account of the trial that convicted the parents.
As compelling as this movie was, there were ambiguous elements that made one question whether eleven-year-old Anna O'Donnell (Kira Lord Cassidy) was truly fasting. When her nurse Lib Wright (Florence Pugh) suggested that the girl's mother (Elaine Cassidy) was passing food while kissing her daughter, the statement was never confirmed or denied effectively. The reason behind the fasting turned out to be a horrible revelation, with Anna stating that she took it as a penance to release her brother from hell for essentially raping her when she was nine years old. It felt like Anna took some responsibility for it even if she was underage, while her own mother somehow felt it was Anna's fault that the brother died some time later. The circumstance of his death wasn't revealed. With Rosaleen O'Donnell going along with Anna's fasting 'for salvation', it became clear how the young girl's 'murder by degrees' came to be seen as the parents' fault for not intervening. The members of the committee that hired Lib Wright and nun Sister Michael (Josie Walker) to observe Anna was conflicted in their opinion as to nurse Lib's final report.
Although the story offered closure for Anna, it doesn't do as well for the viewer. There's no explanation of how Lib Wright and Will Byrne (Tom Burke) managed to smuggle Anna out of the country. No repercussions either for her burning down the O'Donnell home by the village authorities or a response from the O'Donnell's themselves. Those questions dangle at the end of the story and make for a less than satisfying conclusion. I do want to comment on the film's soundtrack; the eerie, somber music felt at times like it would have been more at home in a horror movie, and at times it seemed like the story was going in that direction.
As compelling as this movie was, there were ambiguous elements that made one question whether eleven-year-old Anna O'Donnell (Kira Lord Cassidy) was truly fasting. When her nurse Lib Wright (Florence Pugh) suggested that the girl's mother (Elaine Cassidy) was passing food while kissing her daughter, the statement was never confirmed or denied effectively. The reason behind the fasting turned out to be a horrible revelation, with Anna stating that she took it as a penance to release her brother from hell for essentially raping her when she was nine years old. It felt like Anna took some responsibility for it even if she was underage, while her own mother somehow felt it was Anna's fault that the brother died some time later. The circumstance of his death wasn't revealed. With Rosaleen O'Donnell going along with Anna's fasting 'for salvation', it became clear how the young girl's 'murder by degrees' came to be seen as the parents' fault for not intervening. The members of the committee that hired Lib Wright and nun Sister Michael (Josie Walker) to observe Anna was conflicted in their opinion as to nurse Lib's final report.
Although the story offered closure for Anna, it doesn't do as well for the viewer. There's no explanation of how Lib Wright and Will Byrne (Tom Burke) managed to smuggle Anna out of the country. No repercussions either for her burning down the O'Donnell home by the village authorities or a response from the O'Donnell's themselves. Those questions dangle at the end of the story and make for a less than satisfying conclusion. I do want to comment on the film's soundtrack; the eerie, somber music felt at times like it would have been more at home in a horror movie, and at times it seemed like the story was going in that direction.