Philadelphia, 1969. Dr. Audrey Evans has just accepted a placement at the world-renowned Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia—better known to those in residence as CHOP.
Audrey, an oncologist, has been recruited to CHOP for her expertise in treating children’s cancer. Of particular interest to Audrey is neuroblastoma, a form of pediatric cancer with a very low survival rate. She arrives at CHOP full of ideas and optimism, eager push the bounds of cancer treatment and research alongside her distinguished coworkers.
That’s when she runs into a metaphorical brick wall.
After giving an impassioned presentation to her peers about the need for new research on cancer treatments, Surgeon-in-Chief C. Everett Koop simply says, “Add it to the queue.”
The queue?
Another doctor clarifies: She may apply for research funding in a year. There are only so many grants, after all; and other, longer-tenured staff members have priority over newer ones.
That’s not good enough for Audrey. There are kids with cancer—Audrey’s patients, her “children”—who don’t have a year to wait for a research grant. They need new treatments now. Audrey is caring and intelligent. She’s also tenacious. Quite simply, she’s not about to let some bureaucratic red tape stand in the way of a potential cure for the kids in her care.
Audrey cares deeply for children and strives to provide them with the utmost care. She displays a remarkable bedside manner with the sick kids in residence at the hospital, lovingly guiding them through difficult treatments and emotions. Audrey takes a “total care” approach to her patients, attending not only to physical needs, but to their social and emotional needs as well.
Audrey also seeks to help the families of her patients, who often struggle to afford housing near the hospital while their children are admitted there. When the mother of one patient (who traveled from Tennessee) can no longer afford to stay in Philadelphia, Audrey welcomes the mother into her home for free. She also gives comfort to grieving parents when the worst comes to pass.
And Audrey is not the only doctor at CHOP who provides such exemplary care to patients. We see her colleagues, particularly Dr. Dan D’Angio, showing great care for the children in their charge. Dan also becomes Audrey’s biggest supporter within CHOP. He helps her develop a staging system to better treat cancer patients, even at risk to his own career, because he believes in what she is doing. Dr. Brian Faust, Audrey’s resident, also helps eagerly. Dr. Koop, while restricted by hospital politics and procedure, believes in Audrey and also helps her where he can.
Children are referred to as America’s “only priceless possession.” Dan convinces two different hospitals to share medical data—a breakthrough in cooperation that ultimately leads to better knowledge and care in both facilities. Animals, like mice, are used as test subjects for experimental medical treatments, but Audrey is fierce in her conviction that “animals are living beings and thus [to be treated] politely and with respect” even while doing so.
When a young patient named Mia wrestles with the very real possibility of dying, Audrey comforts her by telling her about heaven. Much of what Audrey says is not theologically accurate—for example, she claims that “when you go to heaven, you get to pick a cloud to live in”—but her words help Mia find peace in a fearful time. Other sick children innocently speculate about heaven, with one wondering if it will have cotton candy.
Audrey goes to what appears to be a Catholic church to pray. She and others genuflect. We see a crucifix. In a chapel in CHOP, a relief sculpture of Jesus appearing to a nun is visible. At a gala, we see several paintings, some of them depicting biblical events. Audrey attends a Jewish funeral service for one of her patients.
Audrey and Dan are friends and colleagues, but there are moments where the film seems to be hinting at something more between the two. At one point, Dan half-jokingly offers to “run away” with Audrey. Nothing untoward happens, but there are some clear indicators pointing toward a developing romance. In some ways, this is a sensible thing for the movie to imply, as we learn Audrey and Dan eventually married, albeit in their later years. Still, it comes across as a bit questionable, since Dan is married. (We never see his wife, but she’s mentioned a few times throughout the film.)
Early in the film, Dan offers to help Audrey with her research. He does so awkwardly, causing Audrey to think that his offer comes with suggestive strings attached. (It doesn’t.) But Audrey’s response does make one wonder if she’s encountered that kind of proposition before.
Audrey wears a formfitting aerobic outfit at one point. Another woman wears a short skirt. We see a man without his shirt after going for a swim. We see Romanesque sculptures that are partially nude. When a woman is asked if she has a date, she quips, “Sean Connery hasn’t returned my calls just yet.”
The painful imagery we see in different ways here obviously involves the ramifications of pediatric cancer, whether symptoms of the disease itself or the result of treatments such as chemotherapy. A child squirms in pain and to avoid a needle, and an orderly restrains the struggling young patient. Other children bear visible signs of their maladies. One child dies from neuroblastoma.
We hear a handful of references to children who have died from cancer. It’s implied that a doctor’s son died from an illness. A boy falls and scrapes his knee. In a moment of frustration, a person rips wallpaper from a wall and knocks over a potted plant. Someone injects a lab mouse with a cancer treatment.
God’s name is abused twice, once with “d—.” Another use of “d—” is heard, along with one use of “h—.”
Medical drugs and treatments are discussed, including chemotherapy. Audrey pushes to use an experimental combination treatment on her patients.
Someone drinks alcohol. A man smokes, which another character calls a “filthy habit.” Dan was formerly a military physician and says he still wonders what drugs were administered to pilots to keep them awake during flights.
In an effort to get more medical information for their cancer staging system, Audrey and Dan sneak into a rival hospital and examine their records. (We’re told that, at the time, hospitals did not share medical records for political reasons.) When Audrey is later suspended from CHOP, she slips back into the hospital to finish work on her staging system with Dan and Brian.
We learn that Audrey had to come to the United States to become a doctor—she was not allowed to do so in her home country, England. The first time she meets Dan, she is seated at his desk casually leafing through his mail. When Audrey tries to apply for a mortgage or buy a house, she’s stonewalled and told to return with her husband. In response, she has Brian pose as her husband in one interaction. Dr. Lewis, the film’s main antagonist, holds Audrey in disdain for much of the film and takes every opportunity to get her in trouble with her superiors.
Someone tells a group of antiwar protestors to “keep on keeping on.” Doctors break bad news to young patients and their parents. Two people discuss the tricks they use to get children to cooperate in taking their medication, which includes fibbing and bribery.
A father struggles to balance time with his sick daughter in the hospital and traveling for work so he can afford her treatment. We hear about a disparity in government spending between defense and cancer research. A man jokes that he’s a masochist. Someone references her pelvic floor muscles as it pertains to holding in her urine.
For much of her life, the “children” of Dr. Audrey Evans were those young cancer patients who passed through the doors of CHOP. Though they may not have been her biological children, she cared for them deeply, almost as if they were her own.
Audrey worked tirelessly toward better processes and treatments for her patients. And she succeeded: Completed in 1971, the Evans Staging System for neuroblastoma is credited with reducing fatality rates for those with this rare form of cancer by more than 50%. And her advocacy for total care—not just for her young patients but their families as well—resulted in the creation of the Ronald McDonald House, which supports millions of families each year in 62 countries and regions through the world.
All of these successes are shown in Audrey’s Children.
Like Audrey Evans herself, this well-made biopic’s heart is for the children. Throughout the film, we see her motivation to achieve isn’t for personal glory or fame, but to better treat the kids in her care. To perhaps even find a cure. Her impulsivity and hard-driving nature get her into trouble at times, but it’s hard to fault her desire to help children and their families. And though the film doesn’t dive deeply into it, Christian faith is presented as a refuge rather than something to be rebuffed.
While the subject matter can be difficult—this is a story that revolves around pediatric cancer, after all—the content issues found here should be pretty navigable for mature tweens and teens on up. Audrey’s Children is an inspiring tale about a remarkable woman (and her colleagues) who helped change the lives of sick children and hurting families for the better.
Bret loves a good story—be it a movie, show, or video game—and enjoys geeking out about things like plot and story structure. He has a blast reading and writing fiction and has penned several short stories and screenplays. He and his wife love to kayak the many beautiful Colorado lakes with their dog.
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