Audrey’s Children Parent Guide

After surviving a serious childhood illness, Dr. Audrey Evans (Natalie Dormer) has a passion for treating pediatric cancer patients. Newly recruited as Chief of Pediatric Oncology at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, she desperately wants to find better ways to cure her sick patients. But it’s 1969 and the odds aren’t in her favor.

Audrey is particularly interested in neuroblastoma, a cancer so aggressive that only 10% of pediatric patients survive, even after undergoing surgery and radiation. Determined to change those outcomes, Audrey pressures medical staff, shakes money out of a pharmaceutical company, and pushes through a study to test new a new chemotherapy protocol. That’s not all: Audrey also reaches out to the press to increase awareness of low research funding, sneaks into another hospital to search their patient records, and tries to buy a house for patients’ families to stay in during treatment. But then she goes too far – and puts all her efforts in jeopardy.

Audrey is a complex protagonist. Deeply empathetic and possessed of enviable energy and enthusiasm, she’s also pigheaded, single-minded, and insubordinate. Although the medical politics that constrain her research and slow her progress are maddening, I must admit to some sympathy for the hospital’s Surgeon-in-Chief (C. Everett Koop played by Clancy Brown). And, honestly, her deliberate flouting of basic research protocols could actually be dangerous. Natalie Dormer does a fine job portraying Dr. Evans in all her complexity, and making sure we sympathize with her determination to save her pediatric patients. Even when she behaves recklessly, she never loses our sympathy.

Audrey’s Children should appeal to fans of medical dramas, biopics, or scientific history, and anyone who likes their movies clean. The cherry on top of this feel-good movie is that it’s almost completely devoid of negative content. There’s some period-appropriate smoking, a bit of social drinking, and some blood in a medical context. If there’s any minor profanity, it slipped right past me – but there isn’t any major cussing.

Adults and teens who want to learn more about a victory in the long battle against cancer will enjoy this well-told tale. And viewers of any age who want to watch a film that celebrates persistence, teamwork, compassion, dedication, and just plain hard work will find much to appreciate in Audrey’s Children.