Mckenna Grace steals the show in Marc Webb’s Gifted.
The 10-year-old plays Mary, a gifted child who knows more about calculus than she does about basic human interaction, including calling the principal and demanding she let her leave school because she is bored.
However, Frank Adler (Chris Evans) has left his Captain America shield behind to play the protective uncle who is determined his niece Mary gets the childhood she deserves.
He is soon torn between his desire to protect her and to do the best for her when her intelligence is discovered by well meaning teacher Bonnie (Jenny Slate) who thinks she should be enrolled at the prestigious Oakford Academy for gifted children.
Things soon start to spiral out of control when Frank finds himself fighting a custody battle with Mary’s overbearing grandmother Evenly Adler (Lindsay Duncan) who wants Mary for her own, but Frank refuses to let her ‘turn Mary into a lab rat who spends her time with scientists all day talking maths.’
Known for directing the Spiderman movie’s Marc Webb temporarily left the action genre to direct a deeply moving and poignant story and the result was truly spectacular.
Gifted, is a film about relationships; all Mary wants is to really belong somewhere and for people to see past her intelligence and get to know the person she really is.
The bond between Frank and Mary is heart-warming and sweet but the real treat is to see Mckenna Grace hold her own against Oscar winner Ocatavia Spencer who plays their next-door neighbour and Mary’s best friend.
Gifted, left everyone in tears, it’ll have you cheering and crying all at the same time.
Also starring Glen Plummer, Jon Sklaroff and Michael Kendall Kaplan.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Rated: M
Distributor: Fox Searchlight Pictures
In cinemas now
