'Penguin Bloom' Review: Another proof that movies have a long way to go without succumbing to ableist tropes
Spoilers for 'Penguin Bloom'
Netflix's latest offering is an Australian movie starring actors well known on this side of the Pacific Ocean — Naomi Watts and Andrew Lincoln. 'Penguin Bloom' follows the story of Samantha Bloom, played by two-time Academy Award nominee Naomi Watts, her husband Cameron Bloom (played by Andrew Lincoln from 'The Walking Dead'), and their three sons as they nurse an injured baby magpie back to health.
Sam herself is paralyzed after an accident a few years earlier, and as the Blooms help the magpie named Penguin recover, the magpie, in turn, helps Sam herself rebuild her hope.
One of the first things viewers may wonder about is whether the film can get right what most regarding disable people cannot and avoid ableist tropes. For instance, when 'Me Before You' came out, we all gushed over Sam Claflin's and Emilia Clarke's chemistry.
However, the film — based on the book of the same name by Jojo Moyes — was called out for its ableism — that Claflin's character would rather go for assisted suicide because his life after his accident turned him into a paraplegic was really bad.
'Penguin Bloom' does kind of take the same route here. Although the intention is to show Sam Bloom was depressed after her accident, the movie perhaps takes it a bit too far — like showing Sam's sadness when she realizes that her kids call for their father rather than her when they need a parent or that she cannot be as active as she used to be before her accident.
It is only in the second half of the movie that we see Sam rebuilding her life, opting for kayaking and training and so on. Sadly, we do not get to see much of that and it is only in a title card at the end of the film that viewers learn that the real Sam Bloom would go on to compete in the World Kayaking Championships and become a two-time World Adaptive Surfing Champion.
Rather than focus on her triumphs post her accident, 'Penguin Bloom' chooses to focus on the depression that arises from her losing the life she once had.
Another issue to gripe with is that Andrew Lincoln's Cameron Bloom is shown only as the caretaker husband, the one who takes on every role after Sam's accident. There is nothing else to his role rather than his being supportive of Sam. And while this is a well-played role, the real Cameron is the one who took photos of the real Penguin Bloom and how the bird helped their family, especially Sam, recover after her accident.
There is not much indication of Cameron's role except that he takes a photo of Sam with Penguin in a scene slyly. The real Cameron's photos of Penguin with the family are shown in the end credits.
As such, 'Penguin Bloom' does resort to ableist tropes and emotionally manipulative sequences to tug viewers' heartstrings. The movie, therefore, has little in terms of substance, even though it has been adapted from a real-life story. We expected much more from the film and though Watts and Lincoln give ridiculously great performances, 'Penguin Bloom' falls short in being the uplifting message that it could have been.
'Penguin Bloom' is available to stream on Netflix on Wednesday, January 27, at 12 am PST.