The Magic Words (2019) - Film Review

Every aspiring writer would know of the story of J.K. Rowling, who was on a train journey from Manchester to London when the idea of a boy wizard came to her and made a whole generation fall in love with reading through her writing.

Director Dominic Porcari and screenwriting duo Megan Dumke and Aquia Williams take this concept and does something truly magic with it. This film blurs reality with fantasy as Joanne Rowling - who at twenty-five is struggling with depression and grief - is interrupted in her carriage by a rebellious child known as Harriet, who tries to cheer her up by waving a "magic" wand. Although initially seen as a nuisance, the train journey takes a darkly magical turn as Joanne sets out to find Harriet and say herself from a mysterious mist chasing her.

The train becomes Joanne’s own personal boggart, each carriage revealing her internal conflict as she struggles to find the words to battle the darkness threatening to consume her. The portrayal of mental health was handled very respectfully throughout this film and this was very fitting considering the inspiration behind this series, As memories and the mist become too much, Joanne's arc sees her grow from damsel to her own hero.

Molly Miller and Madelyn Lemmon lead this short with strong performances. Miller captures nuance and vulnerability in her portrayal of Rowling and Lemmon - who was a clear counterpart for Harry Potter - was naturally endearing and charismatic. Both characters were a good foil to each other, which made their interactions so interesting. Also, I appreciated that this was the first film I'd seen that acknowledged that J.K. Rowling was a natural redhead - so many films cast her as a blonde - so this was a nice attention to detail.

The idea to physically manifest Joanne’s depression in a dementor style was beautifully done and quite poignant considering that was Joanne’s inspiration for the soul-consuming monsters.

This film does take creative license with the order of the narrative – especially with the death of Joanne's mother, who died six months after Joanne started writing Harry Potter – however for narrative purposes, this was done very respectfully and still captured the mother/daughter relationship beautifully on screen. This is highlighted through the moving scenes between Miller and Karen Baum.

Rowling often said Harry Potter was heavily influenced by the loss of her mother, acknowledging that “her death is on every other page” and the creative team truly pay homage to that. Anne Rowling is very much a presence in this film and the short takes its time to really explore the immediate aftermath of grief.

For a fan film, this has to be one of the strongest I’ve watched connected to this franchise. It’s commitment to delve into the darker side of grief and loss, but also channelling it through your creativity was so poetically portrayed.

This film absolutely deserves the fantastic film festival responses they have received, worthy winners of their awards. The clever structure of fantasy, realism and even a bit of horror was very well done within this timeframe.

My rating for this film is a strong ★★★★½ - I am amazed and impressed that this is a student film, it is such a professional and moving piece. The Harry Potter fandom have produced many short/fan films based on Rowling's characters and her wizarding world. This is a strong contender in that category and pays tribute to Rowling as a writer and a person. I'd definitely recommend that you watch the film for yourself on their official Facebook page, it's a brilliant short that deserves more recognition.