Welcome to British Isles Friday! British Isles Friday is a weekly event for sharing all things British and Irish — reviews, photos, opinions, trip reports, guides, links, resources, personal stories, interviews, and research posts. Join us each Friday to link your British and Irish themed content and to see what others have to share. The link list is at the bottom of this post. Pour a cup of tea or lift a pint and join our link party!

Last week, I reviewed the film version of Me Before You. Tina reviewed a book about the life of an Irish ex-pat actor on an olive farm in the Provence region of France: The Olive Farm. Heather reviewed Rebel Magisters, a book set in a steampunk, magical world where the Americans lost the Revolution but rebellion continues to brew. Becky reviewed the hefty historical novel The Quincunx, but found it pretty bleak. Sim took us to the Tower of London as part of her walking tour of London. Then, she shared how she’s convincing her Sherlock Holmes-obsessed husband to enjoy Paris, too.

Denial was one of the movies I discovered when I explored the BAFTAs, the  British Academy Film Awards, earlier this month. This film is based on the true story of an American professor and author who calls out David Irving, a British Holocaust denier, in her book. He sues for libel under the British court system where the burden of proof is on the defendant rather than the accuser as it is here in the US.

I’m a little surprised that Denial didn’t make a bigger splash in the US since the main character, Deborah Lipstadt (played by Rachel Weisz), is American. Maybe it would have helped if they’d cast an American actress, but they are probably too expensive. Sherlock fans will enjoy the appearance of Andrew Scott, who I always want to call Moriarty, no matter what role he’s playing.

I liked learning about the differences between the American and British legal systems and enjoyed the court scenes.

The story, I suspect, is much more complicated than could be captured in a reasonable length movie. But, it all works to provide a dramatic story arc that kept us interested. For more details, Lipstadt wrote a book that the movie is based on — History on Trial: My Day in Court with a Holocaust Denier. 

Have you seen this film? What did you think?