Movie reviews: Belle, Oculus, Heaven is For Real

In 1769, as Belle (PG) opens, Britain was a sea-faring nation thriving on the trans-Atlantic slavery trade. Variously described as ‘mulatto’ and ‘illegitimate’, the young Belle (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) finds a position in polite society courtesy of her father, the Royal Navy captain Sir John Lindsay (Matthew Goode), and grows up under the protection of her great-uncle, Lord Mansfield (Tom Wilkinson). Her skin colour apart, Belle’s concerns as he grows to maturity are those of any heroine of a Jane Austen-style period drama, as she strives to establish her independence in a patriarchal world. But Amma Asante’s film, which is based on a true story, adds an explicitly political twist to Belle’s personal dilemma: Lord Mansfield is also the Lord Chief Justice, and is about to make a landmark ruling on a case in which a ship’s captain deliberately drowned a cargo of slaves in order to dupe an insurance company. The intertwining of Belle’s experience of racism and the moral and legal ramifications of slavery isn’t entirely seamless, but Asante has created an engrossing period drama. Belle, played with deft restraint by Mbatha-Raw, silently seethes as she is forced to accept her status as a second-class human being. Wilkinson is superb as the conflicted Lord Mansfield, a man conscious of his professional and social responsibilities even as he chafes at the ill-treatment of his beloved Belle. Miranda Richardson, Emily Watson, Sam Reid and Matthew Goode contribute powerful performances to a handsomely made film.