When I started watching this film, I thought it might be a good one to watch with my 12 and 15 year old daughters. I like to show them strong female lead characters. A young girl, Sarah, breaking into the male-dominated world of stand-up comedy seemed to be a good example of that. It quickly became clear that Sarah is forced into abusive situations that no 15 year old should ever be subjected to, and serves as a sharp reminder that this is reality for far too many young kids.
Sarah steps up to take on the role of single mum when her own mum, financially irresponsible and crippled by mental health issues, can no longer cope. She fights to juggle the pressures of parental responsibilities, school, and being the sole income provider, just to keep her family together and a roof over their heads. Support is there if she wanted it, and she could ask for help, but this comes with the risk of being taken back into care by Social Services, so she takes the burden on her own shoulders, with all that that entails.
This feels very much like a Ken Loach film (I, Daniel Blake; Sorry We Missed You), bringing societal problems to the surface and shining a light on them, which will be painfully relatable to many, and shockingly eye-opening to those fortunate and privileged enough to be otherwise unaffected by these issues.
The ending is bitter-sweet. Often I don't mind open-ended films, leaving the rest of the story to your imagination, but other times it feels lazy, and this is one of those times. It finished at least 5 minutes too soon, without any resolution, with all of its loose ends untied, and without that the story feels incomplete. It's the last episode of a series that ends on a cliff-hanger, then gets cancelled, and there's no satisfaction in that.
Sarah steps up to take on the role of single mum when her own mum, financially irresponsible and crippled by mental health issues, can no longer cope. She fights to juggle the pressures of parental responsibilities, school, and being the sole income provider, just to keep her family together and a roof over their heads. Support is there if she wanted it, and she could ask for help, but this comes with the risk of being taken back into care by Social Services, so she takes the burden on her own shoulders, with all that that entails.
This feels very much like a Ken Loach film (I, Daniel Blake; Sorry We Missed You), bringing societal problems to the surface and shining a light on them, which will be painfully relatable to many, and shockingly eye-opening to those fortunate and privileged enough to be otherwise unaffected by these issues.
The ending is bitter-sweet. Often I don't mind open-ended films, leaving the rest of the story to your imagination, but other times it feels lazy, and this is one of those times. It finished at least 5 minutes too soon, without any resolution, with all of its loose ends untied, and without that the story feels incomplete. It's the last episode of a series that ends on a cliff-hanger, then gets cancelled, and there's no satisfaction in that.