In The Children Act, Fiona Maye (Emma Thompson) is an eminent High Court judge in London presiding with wisdom and compassion over ethically complex cases of family law. But she has paid a heavy personal price for her workload, and her marriage to American professor Jack (Stanley Tucci) is at a breaking point. One evening, Fiona’s court clerk calls her after hours with a pressing matter. A boy named Adam Henry (Fionn Whitehead) is dreadfully sick with leukemia, is days away from death, and requires a blood transfusion. However, his parents, Kevin (Ben Chaplin) and Naomi (Eileen Walsh), forbid the procedure to take place because they are Jehovah’s Witnesses, and for them, blood is a gift from God that should not be shared. Adam agrees with his parents and is ready to die for his beliefs, but, being three months short of his eighteenth birthday, he is also technically a child. Therefore, it’s the responsibility of the court (and of Fiona in particular) to determine what’s best. Should the state honor religious scruples or intervene to save a life, even against the wishes of the afflicted? Surely one must ask,“What would be my decision?” Commenting on the film, David ‘Mad Dog’ Bradley of Adelaide Review says, “The players are excellent, with Tucci at his very best and Thompson delivering one of her greatest performances yet, which, in a career like hers, is really saying something.” 1:45. Rated R for matters of ethics.