''The Calling'' is a 2009 British

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

directed by

Jan Dunn Jan Dunn (born 15 May 1963 in Maidenhead, Berkshire, England) is a British filmmaker, who made her feature length directorial debut in 2005 with the film '' Gypo'', starring Paul McGann and Pauline McLynn, which won a British Independent Film Awa ...

. Dunn's third feature film, it tells the story of Joanna, played by

Emily Beecham Emily Beecham (born 12 May 1984) is an American-British actress and singer. She is best known for her role in the Coen Brothers film ''Hail, Caesar!'', the AMC series '' Into the Badlands'', and the title role in the 2017 film ''Daphne''. She st ...

, who after graduating from university, goes against her family and friends when she decides to join the closed order of Benedictine nuns. For her debut leading performance in the film, Beecham was awarded a New Talent Trailblazer Award presented by

Sean Connery Sir Sean Connery (born Thomas Connery; 25 August 1930 – 31 October 2020) was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond on film, starring in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983. Origina ...

during the film's debut, where it was also selected as 'Best of the Fest' at the 2009

Edinburgh International Film Festival The Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) is a film festival that runs for two weeks in June each year. Established in 1947, it is the world's oldest continually running film festival. EIFF presents both UK and international films (all ti ...

Cast

Brenda Blethyn Brenda Blethyn (''née'' Bottle; 20 February 1946) is an English actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, a Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress, and two Academy Award nominations. Blethyn ...

— Sister Ignatious *

— Joanna *

Joanna Scanlan Joanna Marion Scanlan (born 27 October 1961) is a British actress. On television, she is known for her roles in British series such as ''The Thick of It'' (2005–2012), '' Getting On'' (2009–2012), ''Puppy Love'' (2014), and ''No Offence'' ( ...

— Sister Kevin *

Pauline McLynn Pauline McLynn (born 11 July 1962) is an Irish character actress and author. She is best known for her roles as Mrs Doyle in the Channel 4 sitcom ''Father Ted'', Libby Croker in the Channel 4 comedy drama '' Shameless'', Tip Haddem in the BBC ...

— Sister Hilda *

Rita Tushingham Rita Tushingham (born 14 March 1942) is an English actress. She is known for her starring roles in films including ''A Taste of Honey'' (1961), ''The Leather Boys'' (1964), '' The Knack ...and How to Get It'' (1965), ''Doctor Zhivago'' (1965), ...

— Sister Gertrude *

Susannah Harker Susannah Harker (born 26 April 1965) is an English film, television, and theatre actor. She was nominated for a BAFTA TV Award in 1990 for her role as Mattie Storin in '' House of Cards''. She played Jane Bennet in the 1995 TV adaptation of '' ...

— Sister Ambrose * Susannah York — The Prioress *Annette Kneath — Clive's Mum

Filming locations

''The Calling'' was fully shot in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

at several locations across the county. Salmestone Grange in

Margate Margate is a seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay and Westbrook. The town has been a significan ...

was used as the location for the Benedictine Convent, the

University of Kent , motto_lang = , mottoeng = Literal translation: 'Whom to serve is to reign'(Book of Common Prayer translation: 'whose service is perfect freedom')Graham Martin, ''From Vision to Reality: the Making of the University of Kent at Canterbury'' ...

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of t ...

and the Gulbenkian Cafe provided great locations for establishing Jo at her university, and St Lawrence College in

Ramsgate Ramsgate is a seaside town in the district of Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2001 it had a population of about 40,000. In 2011, according to the Census, there was a populati ...

was used for the nuns' rooms and hospice scenes. Villa Cap Martin in Broadstairs was used as Jo's family home. Other

filming locations include Barnsole Vineyard, Joss Bay in

Broadstairs Broadstairs is a coastal town on the Isle of Thanet in the Thanet district of east Kent, England, about east of London. It is part of the civil parish of Broadstairs and St Peter's, which includes St Peter's, and had a population in 2011 o ...

High Street and

Wingham Wildlife Park Wingham Wildlife Park is a medium-sized wildlife park situated near Wingham in Kent, UK where it covers an area of 26 acres (13 acres of animal housing area and a further 13 acres of car parking and overflow). In 2011 the species count at the pa ...

which doubled as Africa at the end of the film.

Reception

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

'' magazine wrote that "despite the rather awkward shift from gentle humour into full-on soap opera, this is played with admirable ensemble nous and directed with a sincere grasp of the impact human foible can have on even the most fervent religious belief. Brenda Blethyn particularly stands out, with her common sense attitude to temporal and spiritual matters confirming the validity and relevance of vocations to modern living." ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'' writer Catherine Shoard rated the film two stars out of five and wrote: "Half '' Doubt'', half ''

Hollyoaks ''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera '' Brookside''. Since 2005, episodes have been aired on sister channel E4 a ...

'', Jan Dunn's latest attempt to put Thanet on the cinematic map unfolds at the world's busiest, bitchiest convent: St Bertha's of

. Barely a scene goes by without someone self-flagellating, getting pregnant, topping themselves or having a whopping skeleton pop out of the cupboard ..Only she lethyn really, manages to ride the rollercoaster jumps in plot and tone that sadly mean ''The Calling'' may fail to speak to many."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Calling, The 2009 drama films 2009 films British drama films 2000s English-language films 2000s British films