The Professor and the Madman

If you want a drama that takes its characters as seriously as its plot, The Professor and the Madman is available in Australia on Foxtel Now and Beamafilm, and in the US on Amazon Prime Video and Kanopy right now. It knows exactly what kind of film it is from the opening scene, and never loses that thread. 1,296 people have weighed in on TMDB, and the verdict leans heavily positive. Watch it for Mel Gibson — one of the stronger performances out there right now. Start it on Foxtel Now whenever you need something guaranteed to land.

Part of the current wave of titles people are actually watching, The Professor and the Madman earns its spot. Character-driven storytelling at its most effective — The Professor and the Madman earns every emotional beat it goes for. Professor James Murray begins work compiling words for the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary in the mid 19th century, and receives over 10,000 entries from a patient at Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum, Dr. William Minor. Mel Gibson and Sean Penn lead a cast that brings real weight to the material. It hit screens in 2019. The Professor and the Madman resists tidy resolutions in a way that respects how messy real consequences actually are. It delivers reliably on what it promises, which is more than most of its competition manages.

Drama fans who appreciate slow-burn storytelling will feel right at home with The Professor and the Madman. It has built its own audience without needing a direct comparison. The complete film is available and best experienced without too much prior knowledge of where it goes. Mel Gibson's work here is the kind that gets referenced in career retrospectives. It makes everything else feel thin by comparison.

The Professor and the Madman was released in 2019, directed by Farhad Safinia. The full 124-minute film is available to watch now. Find exactly where it's streaming below, and TV Butler Pro makes it effortless to track your progress as you go. Just search the name, and Butler finds it instantly, tells you which service has it, and remembers exactly where you left off.