'Catherine Called Birdy' is a delightful medieval agent of chaos in new Lena Dunham film

A coming-of-age story set in 13th century England shouldn't be so relatable, but Lena Dunham's latest film, "Catherine Called Birdy," works on nearly all fronts.

Lady Catherine (Bella Ramsey) — aka Birdy — an adorably naïve yet headstrong teenager living in the Middle Ages, is thrust out of the comfort of childhood and into the throes of teenage rebellion when her father needs a dowry to pay off the family's debt.

However, the 14-year-old refuses to marry — or become a lady other than in name. No, she’d much rather get into mud fights, go see public hangings and play with her goat-herding friend Perkin (Michael Woolfitt).

Unfortunately, the arrival of what her nursemaid Morwenna (Lesley Sharp) explains is the “lady in red” (her menstrual cycle) means that Birdy is a woman now. And try as she might, she can’t stop the process of growing up.

What she can do is repulse every man and boy who comes to ask for her hand in marriage.

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Bella Ramsey is the perfect Birdy

In “Catherine Called Birdy,” writer and director Lena Dunham adapts Karen Cushman’s 1994 book “Catherine, Called Birdy” for the screen and takes some liberties with the fictional story, which is told through Birdy’s diary entries.

Set in England in 1290 — and largely filmed on location at a real British manor — Birdy is the only daughter of Lord Rollo (Andrew Scott) and Lady Aislinn (Billie Piper). And as Birdy, Bella Ramsey effortlessly exhibits the vibrant spirit and stubborn defiance that only a youngest sibling can possess.

She’s a delightful adolescent agent of chaos. (“My rebellion will be forever," she vows.)  There’s a fire inside her — which at one point emanates out of her when she spontaneously sets fire to an outhouse while someone it using it. She punches men in the nose and talks back to her father, all without remorse.

In the background of her idyllic life in the village of Stonebridge looms her father’s financial troubles and the several stillborn children her once-again-pregnant mother has delivered since Catherine’s birth.

The arrival of her period throws Birdy into a new world of stuffing rolled-up pads into her underwear, dealing with cramps and realizing she can become pregnant. Though it’s not uncommon, unfortunately, for menstruating to be a source of shame, Birdy hides all evidence of this development for a whole other reason: to delay her inevitable betrothal.

Birdy is terrified of becoming a wife and a mother, which is understandable, as she’s never seen one of her mother’s pregnancies end with the delivery of a live baby.

And regardless of how babies are made — whether it’s a hot poker shoved up a woman’s nose to plant seeds that eventually grow into a baby, as Perkin claims — she’s just not interested; even the prospect of kissing holds no intrigue for Birdy.

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Andrew Scott shouldn’t be as likable as he is

For all the effort she puts into hiding her used menstrual pads in the floorboards of the outhouse, Birdy discovers that her days of rubbing mud all over herself and making a mockery of her lessons with her best friend Aelis (Isis Hainsworth) are numbered. She is of suitable age and title (if not temperament) for her father to use as a pawn in a transactional marriage.

“I have to keep this family from descending into utter poverty, and Birdy is our only currency,” Rollo tells Aislinn. “So we are in real trouble.”

This is a problem, indeed, for the lord because his 14-year-old daughter greets each suitor with a new set of hijinks that scares them away.

As she reflects in her writing: “Would I choose to die rather than be forced to marry? I do not think either option appealing or fair.”

An often drunk and usually selfish man who tries to sell his only daughter off with little discernment sounds like a monster. The “last and blessedly wealthiest suitor” is someone Birdy describes as “not a man, but a cave-dwelling troll,” after all.

Against the odds, however, Lord Rollo doesn’t come off as a villain.

And that’s thanks to Andrew Scott, who embodies the patriarch with a charming mixture of awkwardness, vulgarity, stupidity, desperation and love. Both he and Billie Piper bring an infinite capacity to portray a range of emotions to their roles, which could have easily faded into the background of Birdy’s insubordination.

One tear-inducing childbirth scene in particular stands out as a prime example of how well the two actors work together. In fact, there are no weak links in this cast.

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How ‘Catherine Called Birdy’ avoids being one-note

Though Birdy’s antics could have become redundant over the course of an hour and 45 minutes, she has moments of maturity that make her a more complex character than she seems.

When we meet her, Birdy is a spoiled teenager who isn’t aware of her privilege. Take, for example, the moment she tells Perkin that she envies him because his dad, unlike her irresponsible, selfish father, is dead. Cringe.

In between her bouts of childishness, Birdy shows an aptitude for empathy. On All Hallow’s Eve, she muses about not fearing the dead but instead wishing that the siblings whom she never had the chance to meet would come to the land of the living and comfort their mother.

Later, she ponders how terrible the job of being a mother is because Lady Aislinn must worry about raising her children while dealing with her own grief.

“I will never get used to babies coming dead, and my heart will never stop aching for them to live,” she says with a wisdom that is beyond her years.

Birdy is learning that life is just not fair, and she does everything she can to fight for herself in a time before feminism existed. Besides, she has great examples of women who refuse to stand down.

There’s her mother, who picks herself back up after every miscarriage. There’s Ethelfritha (Sophie Okonedo), her beloved Uncle George’s (Joe Alwyn) once-widowed wife who isn’t interested in finding love in her marriages and encourages Birdy to learn how to use her wings.

“Catherine Called Birdy” is a reminder to let our spirits be free, never settle and keep loved ones close. Regardless of whether she ends up a bride, rest assured that Birdy will never allow her wings to be clipped.

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'Catherine Called Birdy' 4.5 stars

Great ★★★★★ Good ★★★★

Fair ★★★ Bad ★★ Bomb ★

Director: Lena Dunham.

Cast: Bella Ramsey, Billie Piper, Andrew Scott, Lesley Sharp, Sophie Okonedo, Joe Alwyn, Isis Hainsworth, Dean-Charles Chapman, Paul Kaye.

Rating: Rated PG-13.

Note: In select theaters in Phoenix on Friday, Sept. 23. Streaming on Amazon Prime starting Oct. 7.

Reach Entertainment Reporter KiMi Robinson at kimi.robinson@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @kimirobin and Instagram @ReporterKiMi.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Lena Dunham's new movie 'Catherine Called Birdy' is near perfect