Creation

Overview

What are ideas anyway? They're those big, abstract tangles floating above our heads that we pull down and argue about now and then, right? Most of the time we're too busy grappling with them to remember that someone had to put them up there in the first place.

Enter Charles Darwin (Paul Bettany), seen here as a brilliant but private middle-aged man, leading a seemingly charmed life surrounded by family and friends. It doesn't take long for us to see the reasons for his reticence. Darwin is plagued by illness and troubled by his suspicions regarding the nature of the universe. We see Darwin's philosophy as it emerged: a knot of scientific study, family relations and devastating tragedy.

There's plenty here for those who favour art over science: a strong dramatic plot, complex characters and conveniently visual scenes featuring hydrotherapy treatments. That Darwin's wife, Emma, is played by Paul Bettany's real-life partner Jennifer Connelly adds tangible depth to the problematic marriage. Some moments do creep close to melodrama, but even this operates well within the context to draw otherwise abstract considerations back into the complexity of their human origins.

CREATION official movie trailer