Prima Facie film review: Cynthia Erivo’s harrowing tear-jerker

Prima Facie review and star rating: ★★★★ In London, only 3 per cent of reported rapes lead to a suspect being charged. It is a fact so shocking that even people with no interest in the courts recite it. It is the problem that formed the backdrop of Suzie Miller’s very good play of the same name as this film, starring Killing Eve actor Jodie Comer, who in a 100 minutes of theatre astonishingly played every character from the court judge to the victim.  Miller’s writing, for which she won the Olivier Award in 2023, extracts a compelling human story out of this institutional crisis. Prima Facie follows Tessa Ensler, a successful criminal defence barrister who has become rich protecting men who are probably guilty of crimes by finding legal loopholes. But an incident in her personal life forces her to rethink the morality of her work.  Prima Facie: film can be didactic Wicked’s Cynthia Erivo takes over from Comer for Susanna White’s screen adaptation, alongside a supporting cas