05 Feb 1997
Director: Mike Leigh
France, UK
1996
136 min
Hortense, a successful Black optometrist in London, decides to search for her birth mother after her adoptive mother dies. She discovers that her mother, Cynthia, is a white working-class woman living with her troubled daughter Roxanne. The revelation of Hortense’s existence throws Cynthia’s already fragile family dynamics into further turmoil, forcing them to confront long-buried secrets and lies. As they navigate their complex relationships and hidden resentments, they ultimately find a path towards understanding and acceptance.
Starring: Timothy Spall, Brenda Blethyn, Phyllis Logan, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Claire Rushbrook, Ron Cook, Lesley Manville, Elizabeth Berrington, Michele Austin, Lee Ross, Emma Amos