★★★★

Goodbye Christopher Robin is based on a story that many people may think they know before going to see the movie, but actually It’s likely to surprise you a little.

This biopic starts with striking scenes of WW1 filled with dead bodies surrounded by flies and shells falling all around. We are then transported to a glittering party where Milne’s social butterfly wife, Daphne (Margo Robbie), jokes that the other women are jealous because their husbands were not smart enough to not die. This very much sums up her character throughout the movie.

Milne is shell shocked and suffering from PTSD, his flashbacks are wonderfully crafted and as an audience you will share in his distress, however we see the transformation of Alan Alexander Milne (Domhnall Gleeson) from shell shocked veteran to author of the loveable Winnie the Pooh. Brought on mostly by a move out of the city and into the countryside, into the woods that will one day become ’100 acre wood’, with their young son Billy Moon and his toy bear, donkey, tiger and kangaroos.

Though as the popularity of Winnie the Pooh grows it quickly becomes apparent that it is young Christopher Robin that the public want to see, not understanding that he is not a real person; that would be billy moon. He is protected by the real star of the movie, his nanny ‘nou’ played by Kelly Mcdonald who gives an absolutely amazing performance.

The acting in this movie is quite delightful and it is easy to get caught up in the story from its many perspectives. It should be noted that in the Milne house they wont stand for ‘blubbing’, you however may very well find yourself giving into a few tears as the story progresses.

As a word of warning, although this is a PG young children may find it upsetting as there are several heavy issues to deal with. Though i promise you this, you may never look at the countries most loved children’s character, Winnie the Pooh, quite the same again.