Girl main backdrop
Girl main poster

6.6/10 • 8

2023-11-171h 27m

Drama

A young mother is forced to face the truth of her past life as her daughter approaches adolescence and strives for new freedom.

Directors
Adura Onashile
Writters
Adura Onashile
Editors
Adura Onashile, Stella Heath Keir

Top Billed Cast

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  1. Déborah Lukumuena

    Déborah Lukumuena

    Grace

  2. Danny Sapani

    Danny Sapani

    Samuel

  3. Le'Shantey Bonsu

    Le'Shantey Bonsu

    Ama

  4. Liana Turner

    Liana Turner

    Fiona

  5. Ayesha Antoine

    Ayesha Antoine

    Lisa

  6. Caroline Deyga

    Caroline Deyga

    Mhairi

  7. Lael Tamakloe

    Lael Tamakloe

    Grace, young

  8. Jenni Keenan-Green

    Jenni Keenan-Green

    Ms. Seample

  9. Owen Whitelaw

    Owen Whitelaw

    Ian

Reviews1

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CinemaSerf Avatar

CinemaSerf

Oct 19, 2023

6/10

Though the narrative is a little too undercooked here, this film does present us with two characterful performances from Déborah Lukumuena and Le'Shantey Bonsu. The former is "Grace" - a woman who lives in a rundown Glasgow high-rise with her daughter "Ama". Their's is a loving relationship tinged with a little maternal paranoia. "Grace" is forced to work as a cleaner at night and the girl is largely forbidden from leaving the flat - for her own safety - and that, naturally, attracts the attention of the social workers and the school teachers who are concerned for their wellbeing. Things are not helped by a decision to rehouse the family as the demolition men are soon to head to their tower block. When "Ama" befriends a neighbour from her school "Fiona" (a nice effort from Liana Turner), the couple's relationship starts to become severely tested and the two women face the first serious change to the established dynamic of their inter-dependency. The performances do go some way to making this film work, but the absence of context makes it difficult to engage with the story. We don't really know anything about the past that drove them to Scotland. Clearly there has been trauma for "Grace", but again - we know very little about what created that trouble. The direction is also very lethargic. Far too many tracking shots, walking to and fro, almost like director Adura Onashile was paddling out a short story into almost ninety minutes. I also found it to be rather over-scored. The paucity of dialogue does work at times, but the sense of loneliness and fear that generates is all to frequently overpowered by the music. It's an interesting story that is probably illustrative of many families relocated to a strange environment, but I just needed more substance and less meandering images for that to resonate better.

Media

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  • Girl backdrop
  • Girl backdrop

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Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
--
Revenue
--
Keywords
woman directormother daughter relationship