''Penguin Bloom'' is a 2020 Australian

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by Glendyn Ivin, from a screenplay by Shaun Grant and Harry Cripps, and is based on the book of the same name by Cameron Bloom and Bradley Trevor Greive. It stars

Naomi Watts Naomi Ellen Watts (born 28 September 1968) is a British actress. Known for her work predominantly in independent films with dark or tragic themes, she has received various accolades, including nominations for two Academy Awards, a Primetime ...

Andrew Lincoln Andrew James Clutterbuck (born 14 September 1973), known professionally as Andrew Lincoln, is an English actor. His first major role was as the character Egg in the BBC drama '' This Life'' (1996–1997). Lincoln later portrayed Simon Casey i ...

and

Jacki Weaver Jacqueline Ruth Weaver (born 25 May 1947) is an Australian theatre, film, and television actress. Her accolades include five AACTA Awards (including the Longford Lyell Award) and a National Board of Review Award, in addition to nominations ...

. The book and film are based on a true story of Sam and Cameron Bloom's family and their interactions with an

Australian magpie The Australian magpie (''Gymnorhina tibicen'') is a black and white passerine bird native to Australia and southern New Guinea, and introduced to New Zealand, and the Fijian island of Taveuni. Although once considered to be three separate ...

named 'Penguin'. It was theatrically released in Australia by

Roadshow Films Roadshow Entertainment (formerly known as Roadshow Home Video from 1982–1993) is an Australian home video, production and distribution company that is a division of Village Roadshow (formerly Roadshow Home Video and Roadshow Entertainment) tha ...

on 21 January 2021 and digitally in the United States by

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

on 27 January.

Plot

During a family vacation in

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

, Sam Bloom accidentally falls off a high balcony and breaks her T6

thoracic vertebrae In vertebrates, thoracic vertebrae compose the middle segment of the vertebral column, between the cervical vertebrae and the lumbar vertebrae. In humans, there are twelve thoracic vertebra (anatomy), vertebrae of intermediate size between the ce ...

resulting in partial

paralysis Paralysis (: paralyses; also known as plegia) is a loss of Motor skill, motor function in one or more Skeletal muscle, muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory d ...

. Back home in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, Sam, an avid surfer, struggles to adjust to life in a wheelchair, but is supported by her husband Cameron, their three sons Noah, Rueben, and Oli, and Sam's overbearing mother Jan. One afternoon, the three boys find and bring home an injured magpie chick who they name Penguin. Sam is initially too despondent to care for Penguin but understands it's important to Noah, and as time goes on, she bonds with her. Noah feels guilty for being the one who asked his mum to go up to the balcony in Thailand and has withdrawn from her since the accident. Sam and Cameron's relationship also deteriorates as she struggles to find joy in daily life and wishes to forget who she was before the fall since she can no longer live in the same way. She demands he never ask her how she is. After several weeks, Penguin fully recovers and learns to fly, inspiring Sam to want to do something for herself; she starts kayaking lessons. For Sam's birthday, the Blooms go for dinner at Jan's house, joined by Sam's sister Kylie and Sam's kayaking instructor Gaye. While Jan and Cameron argue about Sam's new life and their responsibilities to her, Penguin is attacked by two larger birds and then flies away. Sam eventually confronts Noah about his guilt and tells him he is not to blame for what happened to her. She apologises for being distant and reveals she has found her strength, and the whole family reconcile. Sam asks Cameron to ask her how she is, and when he does, she replies, "I'm better." Penguin returns home a few days later, and Sam thanks her for helping her recover.

Cast

as Sam Bloom, Cameron's wife and Jan's daughter. *

as Cameron Bloom, Sam's husband * Griffin Murray-Johnston as Noah Bloom * Felix Cameron as Rueben Bloom * Abe Clifford-Barr as Oli Bloom *

as Jan, Sam's mother *

Rachel House Rachel Jessica Te Ao Maarama House (born 20 October 1971) is a New Zealand actress and director. She is best known for her roles in the films of Taika Waititi. She has received numerous accolades including an Arts Laureate, NZ Order of Mer ...

as Gaye *

Leeanna Walsman Leeanna Walsman is an Australian actress. She is best known for her role as Zam Wesell in '' Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones'' (2002), and for her roles in the 2000 film '' Looking for Alibrandi'' and the television series '' We ...

as Kylie * Lisa Hensley as Bron

Production

The rights to the book were acquired in December 2016 by

Bruna Papandrea Bruna Papandrea (born 1971) is an Australian film and television producer and the founder of production company Made Up Stories. Prior to Made Up Stories, Papandrea co-founded the production company Pacific Standard with Reese Witherspoon. ...

was set to star and to co-produce with Mark Audet, Emma Cooper, and Made Up Stories. In June 2017, Shaun Grant was hired to write the screenplay. By February 2019, Glendyn Ivin was set to direct, and in July

and

were added to the cast. Filming began in Australia in early August 2019.

Release

''Penguin Bloom'' had its world premiere at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

on 12 September 2020. The film was released theatrically in Australia on 21 January 2021 by

, and hit number one at the Australian box office for its opening weekend.

released the film in North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland, South Africa, France and select Asian countries on 27 January 2021.

Reception

Review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

gives the film approval rating based on reviews, with an average rating of . The website's critical consensus reads: "''Penguin Bloom''s fact-based story could have been adapted with greater nuance, but strong work from Naomi Watts and Andrew Lincoln adds some much-needed heart." According to

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which sampled 17 critics and calculated a weighted average score of 54 out of 100, the film received "mixed or average reviews". The script for ''Penguin Bloom'' by Shaun Grant and Harry Cripps was shortlisted for the Betty Roland Prize for Scriptwriting at the 2021 New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards.

Accolades

References

External links

* * {{Rotten Tomatoes, penguin_bloom 2020 films 2020 drama films American drama films Australian drama films Films scored by Marcelo Zarvos Films shot in Australia 2020s English-language films Screen Australia films Roadshow Entertainment films 2020s American films English-language drama films Films about birds 2020s Australian films