Finding Neverland is an emotional tale of the events of Scottish Peter Pan author James Mathew Barrie. The film, directed by Marc Forster (Monster’s Ball) takes a fictional look at the development of the children’s classic Peter Pan.
It all begins as Scottish playwright J.M. Barrie (Johnny Depp) watches his latest play open to a less-than-enthusiastic reaction among the well-mannered society of Edwardian England. Barrie, literary genius bored by repetitive themes, is in desperate need of some inspiration and unexpectedly finds that inspiration during one of his daily walks in the Kensington Gardens of London. While walking his Saint Bernard, Barrie runs across the Llewelyn Davies family: four fatherless boys and their recently widowed mother (Kate Winslet).
Even though widow Llewelyn Davies’ mother Emma du Maurier (Julie Christie) voices her disapproval of the family’s relationship with Barrie and Barrie’s own wife (Radha Mitchell) begins to resent the relationship, Barrie still grows close to the family. Barrie engages the boys in tricks, games, disguises, and make believe worlds of pirates, kings, and cowboys.
The impact the family have on Barrie transforms into the development of his renowned work Peter Pan. While the actors of the play are shocked when they are made to fly across stage, converse with fairies, and wear dog and crocodile costumes, the audience is won over by the magical play that delves into the true heart of imagination.
Inspired by J.M. Barrie’s real-life friendship with the Llewelyn Davies family, Finding Neverland is filled with the same themes that make Barrie’s play Peter Pan so universal, wonder of imagination, nostalgia for childhood innocence, and the longing to believe in something more enchanted than everyday life.
When Barrie is ready to introduce the world to Peter Pan, a tragic twist of fate will make the writer and those he loves most understand just what it means to really believe.
