Misbehaviour

I’ve said in previous reviews that I really enjoy something based on a true story, something that gives me insight into a subject that I feel I should know more about, so I went into Misbehaviour with high expectations.

Based on the controversial 1970 Miss World competition in which the first coloured winner was crowned, a coloured and white contestent were selected to represent South Africa and the show disrupted by the newly formed Women’s liberation movement.

The accusations of racism, the failure to recognise aparthied and the fledgling womens liberation movement all should provide enough story for a fascinating look at a range of subjects and attitudes from 1970, add to that three strong leading performer’s in Kiera Knightley, Jessie Buckley and Gugu Mbatha Raw and this really should have pressed all the buttons.

Sadly though Misbehaviour really feels like it falls short, instead of providing an interesting insight into events we never really do more than skirt around them, we never find out what drives Knightley’s smart and determined Sally, the story behind Buckley’s commune living liberator Jo or the aims of Mbata Raw’s Grenadine winner Jennifer Hosten.

That’s a real pity as this is a story worth telling, but it feels like the film is never really sure what story it wants to share, Miss World, Women’s liberation or even the story from the contestants side that examines the opportunity it presents them but it only ever, frustratingly, touches upon it.

There are moments were the film tries to spend a little time asking interesting questions, especially in a scene between Sally and Jennifer but they are far to infrequent.

It’s a real pity, with interesting raw material and a talented cast this film should have been much more interesting than it is, but sadly never quite gets beyond a very superficial look at the subject, perhaps a bit like Miss World itself.