THE NIGHTINGALE review (7/10)…a revenge movie with some surprising depth

Vengeance-based movies can provide some visceral fun. Seeing the “bad guys” get their due is such a trope that it’s hard to imagine anything new being brought to the theme. Whether as gloriously over-the-top as JOHN WICK or as gory as the queasy-making REVENGE (the 2017 movie), these films usually begin with some horrific acts, followed by the surviving hero finding the inner strength to launch their quest for bloody vengeance. Then a series of satisfying killings of the now frightened bad guys, ending in some kind of redemption or resolution for the hero (who may or may not survive and may or may not realize that vengeance isn’t always as sweet as hoped).

THE NIGHTINGALE is a film that carefully follows these basic outlines. And yet it also takes us to some unexpected places. Set in Tasmania in the early 1800’s, when Australia was still a prison colony, run by British troops, we meet the Irish Clare (Aisling Franciosi), who, even though a prisoner, is working hard to build a new life with her husband Aidan and their baby. She hopes to receive the long-promised freedom that Lieutenant Hawkins (Sam Claflin) dangles over her head. Not surprisingly, the nasty Hawkins enjoys lording it over the defiant Clare, who must constantly quell her fiery temper and innate dislike of the British in general and Hawkins and his little…