Film

Professor Marston and the Wonder Women

Name: Professor Marston and the Wonder Women
Genre: Drama, Romance
Released: 2017
Cast: Luke Evans, Rebecca Hall, Bella Heathcote, Connie Britton, JJ Feild

Biopic

A lush, psychologically curious drama about William Moulton Marston, the polyamorous psychologist who invented the lie detector and created Wonder Woman. It's sensual and intimate, treating its unconventional love triangle with genuine warmth rather than scandal. For anyone interested in the messy real lives behind beloved icons.

TMDb rating

3.6

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy quietly intimate period dramas about unconventional love, where the emotional stakes come from people tangled in arrangements that society would never sanction.

Skip it if you want a brisk superhero story or a lively origin-of-a-comic-icon romp; the comic-book connection is a footnote here, and the film lingers over its relationships rather than its heroics.

What it asks of you: Settle in for just under two hours of unhurried, talky scenes, with a restrained tone that rewards patience more than sudden shifts in pace or big spectacle.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Dreamgirls2006

A sumptuous musical drama about ambition, desire, and three people whose lives become impossibly entangled. Like Marston, it's visually gorgeous and emotionally complex, refusing to judge its characters even when they behave badly.

But Heavy on melodrama and historical compression. The singing is good but not transcendent, so if you need virtuoso vocals, this won't deliver.

Carol2015

A tender, intelligent portrait of two women falling in love in the 1950s. It shares Marston's intimate visual language and its refusal to treat unconventional desire as a problem to solve, only a truth to live with.

But Deliberately paced and restrained. If you prefer movies that move quickly or declare their emotions loudly, the quietness might feel slow.

The Imitation Game2014

Another biopic about a brilliant outsider whose personal life contradicts his public image. It's intelligent, emotionally smart, and asks real questions about what we owe to our authentic selves versus the world.

But Compresses history and simplifies some dynamics for dramatic effect. Not as visually lush as Marston, and occasionally veers toward earnestness.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Professor Marston and the Wonder Women

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Conformist1971

Both explore how people rationalize their desires and how personal truth gets buried under social performance. Both understand sexuality as inseparable from power, identity, and what we're willing to become.

Bernardo Bertolucci's masterpiece about a man constructing a false self while desire wars with ambition. Visually hypnotic, morally complex, erotically charged without explicitness. A complete artistic vision.

But Not widely available in good prints; slow and demanding; fasicist ideology is the subject, not the endorsement, but demands mature viewing. Also much darker and more tragic.

Midnight in Paris2011

Both celebrate artistic creation born from desire and unconventional relationships. Like Marston, it's romantic without being sappy, and it trusts the audience to hold contradictory feelings at once.

But Whimsical in a way Marston isn't. If you find nostalgia and wistfulness cloying, this will feel overwrought.

The Danish Girl2015

A sensitive drama about an unconventional marriage undergoing radical change. It explores how love survives transformation, and what we sacrifice for authenticity—core Marston themes.

But Some find it sentimental rather than sharp. The gender politics have also drawn criticism from trans audiences for its specific choices.

Kinsey2004

Another biopic of a brilliant sexologist whose private life shaped his revolutionary work. It has similar texture: intelligent, erotic without being explicit, interested in what honesty costs.

But Denser and more academic than Marston. Less visually composed; more interested in ideas than aesthetics.

The Favourite2018

A darkly comic exploration of power, desire, and a complex three-person relationship. It's stylish and strange, unafraid of eroticism or messiness.

But Tonal whiplash between comedy and genuine cruelty. If you want coherent emotional tone throughout, this deliberately disrupts it.

Oppenheimer2023

A sweeping biography of another brilliant American whose personal contradictions haunted his legacy. It asks what we owe to the consequences of what we create.

But Three-and-a-half hours and deliberately fractured chronologically. Demands real attention; not a passive watch.

Hidden Figures2016

A crisp, warm ensemble drama about brilliant people kept out of their own stories. It shares Marston's interest in hidden history and creative people fighting systems that refuse them.

But Somewhat conventional in structure and occasionally uses uplift where nuance might live. Plays it safer dramatically than Marston dares.