“Women presume we can have children. There is a biological and social expectation. Nothing can make that absence worse. But we have the possibility of making it better.” New to Netflix, Joy follows the British scientists who invented in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) – Bob Edwards (James Norton), Jean Purdy (Thomasin McKenzie) and Patrick Steptoe (Bill Nighy) – and the opposition they faced from the medical and religious communities.
Feminists have long fought to prove that a woman’s value is distinct from motherhood. There are many ways to live a meaningful life that are wholly disconnected from whether you can, or even wish to, have children. And yet, almost always, an infertility diagnosis brings pain. As such, for many, Joy will be a bittersweet watch.
One such person is our reviewer, Pragya Agarwal, who wrote a book about her own journey with fertility, including many rounds of IVF. She found watching the film to be a “hugely emotional experience”, with a message that feels even more potent in the current climate, as reproductive choices and bodily autonomy are under threat around the world.
