Moll Flanders is a 1996 American period drama film starring Robin Wright and Morgan Freeman, loosely based on the 1722 novel of the same name by Daniel Defoe.

In the late 17th century, a black gentleman, Hibble, takes custody of a girl, Flora, who is being physically mistreated by abusive nuns at a London orphanage.

Disillusioned, Flora blames Hibble for not saving her mother and nearly runs away before Moll shows up, alive and well, having survived the storm and taken Allworthy's identity and associated fortune.

Densham was inspired to make the film after listening to an NPR radio piece about letters from 18th-century women who had abandoned their children.

[3] A problem many critics had was with the movie largely throwing out the original Defoe story and structuring it like Forrest Gump (in which Wright was prominently featured).

While the original book was about a woman's struggle to survive a male-dominated era (the early 17th century) and her turning to illegal actions to make it through stealing and prostitution, among other means, the movie dealt with Moll's working on herself and improving her life.

[4] Roger Ebert gave the movie three stars and said of the film "it's an original; Densham took only the name, the period, and a few notions from Defoe, and has made up the rest.