As Sansa Stark in Game of Thrones , Sophie Turner excelled as a pure soul in a morally depraved medieval universe. In lightweight but enjoyable biopic Joan , she portrays another underdog heroine once again travelling to a bygone era. Sporting a Bananarama haircut, she plays real-life 1980s jewel chief Joan Hannington, Thatcher-era London’s so-called “Criminal Godmother.
” Turner’s Hannington is Sansa with an EastEnders accent and a fashion upgrade – rather than princess frocks, it’s pastel blouses and mammoth shoulder pads. But her Joan is also a hot streak of contradictions under the clobber and the eye makeup. She’s a loving mum but someone who will endanger her future with her daughter by stealing a car so that she can visit the child in foster care (an actual incident detailed in Hannington’s memoir, I Am What I Am: The True Story of Britain’s Most Notorious Jewel Thief ).
And while Turner puts great effort into playing her as an oppressed woman with a heart of gold, Joan is undeniably enthusiastic about her descent into criminality. Joan is part giddy heist, part social drama, and the two genres combine unevenly in a series that feels torn between escapism and the desire to be something grittier. Turner’s character is introduced as a frightened victim of an abusive criminal boyfriend, Gary (Nick Blood), who does a runner after falling out with the wrong people.
Joan is left to answer for his deeds and when gangsters break in and threaten her, she puts.