Drama

Girl

Great Point Media

Barry Crerar

Screen Scotland

BBC Film

United Kingdom

Français

English

Déborah Lukumuena

Danny Sapani

Le'Shantey Bonsu

Liana Turner

Ayesha Antoine

Caroline Deyga

Lael Tamakloe

Jenni Keenan-Green

Owen Whitelaw

Mark Cox

Andrew John Tait

Joanne Gallagher

Firas Ibrahim

Kai Bruce

Paul Ellard

Adura Onashile

Kirsty Halliday

Joanna Sturrock

Yvonne Carroll

Laura Shand

William Aikman

Becky Thomson

Richard Brough

Hazel d Smith

Jon Bruce

Iris Cohen

Simone Grattarola

Tasha Back

Meghan Grieve

Christine Urquhart

James Hogarth

Neil Mackay

Stuart Truesdale

Peter Candler

Reece Steel

Javi López

Maya Man

Stella Heath Keir

Soraya Gilanni

Kat Morgan

Jenny Stimpson

Chris Maxwell

Ari Rissotti

Jennifer Armitage

Kristin Irving

Jim Reeve

Soraya Gilanni Viljoen

Rosslyn Oman

Eva Yates

Ciara Barry

Rosie Crerar

Ré Olunuga

CinemaSerf

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.

Best Movies

Girl

Cast & Crew

Videos

Cast

Déborah Lukumuena

Danny Sapani

Le'Shantey Bonsu

Liana Turner

Ayesha Antoine

Caroline Deyga

Lael Tamakloe

Jenni Keenan-Green

Owen Whitelaw

Mark Cox

Box office

More Like This

Slave Training Men of the Dragon Factory

Rapid Express Train Bound for Otokogai

Blazing Men

My Life Without Me

Open Hearts

Italian for Beginners

The Secret Life of Words

Lost in Translation