Professor Marston and the Wonder Women review – a saucy origin story

Well, this is a bit unexpected. Fans who responded to the comparative innocence of the recent Wonder Woman movie, to the lack of a knowing smirk and an ironically raised eyebrow, might be surprised to learn that, in the 1940s, America’s favourite female superhero had some subversively niche tastes. The spine of this deliciously provocative film is an investigation into the original comic strip, by a buttoned-up, purse-lipped official from the Child Study Association of America. What she finds is an enthusiasm for spanking, bondage and S&M imagery that, she contests, is not suitably wholesome given the young, impressionable readership.

Wonder Woman’s creator, psychologist Professor William Moulton Marston (Luke Evans) disagrees. But then, as a polyamorist who espouses a whole behavioural theory based on dominance and submission, Professor Marston has a history of unconventional views.

Taking the investigation as its central core, the film rewinds to explore the more contentious element of the story. It’s a three-way romance that tantalises and teases, but it should be acknowledged at this point that members of the Marston family contest the version of events that we see on screen.

The professor works alongside his wife, Elizabeth (Rebecca Hall, superb). Brilliant, abrasive and forthright, she is denied the recognition she deserves because of her sex. She takes a scientific interest in her husband’s attraction to their new assistant, Olive Byrne (Bella Heathcote), but hasn’t bargained on her own feelings. The key to negotiating the tricky dynamic that develops comes from making the attraction between the two women the heart and the driving force of the relationship. “Your body will always betray you,” mansplains the professor, oblivious to the longing glances that Olive is shooting at his wife.

And while the score is a little demure, all coy dimples and becoming blushes, the design of the film revels in the fun and fantasy of the unconventional family unit. A proto lie detector provides not just a playful narrative device but a visual nod to the ropes and restraints that feature photogenically in the story; Elizabeth’s snaking strings of beads are a sly wink to the audience.