Josephine is a film about an eight-year-old girl called Josephine, with “Jo-Jo” as her nickname (Mason Reeves), experiencing a crime that happens in her local park, which ends up traumatizing her and changing her actions. Josephine’s dad, Damien (Channing Tatum), has a very strong sense of justice. After what happened at the park, he has a strange feeling and starts thinking that his wife, Claire (Gemma Chan), and his daughter aren’t safe.
This film was a huge surprise for me, hitting like a punch to the stomach in the way it clearly intends. “Josephine” is a very raw movie in the sense that it does not even try to minimize the traumatic experience Jo-Jo had in the park; in fact, it does the exact opposite. It shows how the cruel but real world can affect a young kid.
One of the few problems of the film is the pacing of the second act. The pacing of the first and third acts is great, but the second act is slow compared to the first and third acts, which heavily disappointed me after how the first act turned out to be.
None of the characters are wasted in the film; all of them have a purpose, especially Damien and Claire. Claire has a more subtle impact on Jo-Jo’s personality compared to what Damien does, because he gives straightforward advice. On the other hand, Claire makes Jo-Jo think more so she can understand things by herself.
Channing Tatum (Damien) is outstanding in “Josephine”; you can see that he actually feels all of the emotions that Damien has throughout the film. Mason Reeves (Josephine) doesn’t even look like this is her first acting role in a film at all.
Director Beth de Araújo did an amazing job of making the viewer feel every emotion Josephine has throughout the whole film. She does that so easily because the story actually happened to her; Josephine is inspired by Beth de Araújo. The directing really puts us in Jo-Jo’s shoes because when the crime is happening, we get to see every detail in an uncomfortable and long way, just like Jo-Jo did. In some cases, the director literally places the camera as Jo-Jo’s point of view, making the viewer connect even more with her. The directing doesn’t only rely on making the viewer feel in the moment; it also uses long takes that can really surprise, especially because Mason Reeves (Josephine) is a young actress with no experience.
Josephine is a film that is made to feel like you are inside the movie, and the directing helps with that a lot. “Josephine” is a film that allows emotional release.
