If you’re looking for an opportunity to escape reality and venture into the world of childhood fantasy, “Fairy Tale – A True Story” is the movie for you.It’s based on the true story of Elsie Wright (Florence Hoath) and her cousin Frances Griffiths (Elizabeth Earl), who took photographs of fairies to prove their existence to Elsie’s mother, Polly. The story revolves around the Wright family, who are mourning the loss of their son (who died from pneumonia) and deeply affected by the devastation and gloom that all of Europe felt during World War I. The extent of Polly Wright’s depression is apparent when Elsie tells her father, Arthur (Paul McGann), that her mother said they were not allowed to wear colorful clothing.Elsie’s cousin, 10-year-old Frances, arrives in England from Africa after her father comes up missing in the war and her mother dies. The girls decide to venture to the bottom of a garden where it is believed the fairies live. When Frances falls into the creek, she stands up to find a fairy flying right in front of her.As Polly tucks Frances into bed that night, the girls discuss the fairies and Frances explains to Polly that adults can’t see the fairies because only people who believe in them can see them. The next day, Elsie and Frances set out with Arthur’s camera to get proof that the fairies exist and spark a series of events that nobody could have expected. In the movie, Polly takes the photographs, which were developed in a dark room at the family’s house, to a theosophical expert (expert in the occult) who in turn hands them over to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Peter O’Toole) and Harry Houdini (Harvey Keitel). Doyle publishes articles about the girls and the fairies and, although their names were withheld, their identity is soon discovered and the girls are thrust into the spotlight. In reality, the photos were taken in 1917, but Polly didn’t take them to the theosophical expert until 1920. By 1923, the public attention became too intense, and Elsie emigrated to America.In the early 1980s, both Elsie and Frances began indicating that the photos may not have been genuine. The accepted explanation is that the photographs were faked using cardboard cutouts stuck to hat pins, but there are still questions about the fifth and final photograph in which neither of the girls appear. Elsie insisted that the photo was faked like the others, but Frances claimed until her death that it was genuine. Even so, both girls maintained all through their lives that the fairies did exist and that they communicated with them.