Herself

This was an enjoyable movie with good actors especially the two little girls sweet as can be. Everything in this movie was pretty believable and not overdone.

Clare Dunne is excellent in this film. Her vulnerability and trauma are palpable. The story, which she wrote, is a bit formulaic. But it's a worthy film. There are some corny and melodramatic moments. But the heart of the film is true.

In tone and aesthetic, Phyllida Lloyd's 'Herself' is reminiscent of dramatic, intimate films by Ken Loach or Mike Leigh. Sadly, neither the script nor the treatment of the story are up to the task of the great films directed by those veteran British filmmakers. While it has its good intentions, solid performances, and is well-told by the filmmakers who obviously have invested an inkling of heart into the effort, the film serves up some clichés and struggles to maintain a balance between a heartwarming story of a mother's love and commentary on a system that stacks the odds against the victim.

It's a beautiful emotional movie. Well it has its corny moments but it's still great with a nice story and powerful topics. Lead performance is nice and real. Herself is a very good lovely movie that has a beautifully written story that tackles important topics.

My wife and I managed to watch this on Amazon streaming movies. With the at times thick Irish accent we didn't always understand the dialog but it was still clear what was going on.

A nice, caring, and hard-working mother of two girls has an abusive husband, the kind that will be very caring at times but when angry will get very physically abusive. She has no choice after one especially violent beating, she has to move out and get government help with housing, typically a hotel room.

She works two jobs, one of them helping to care for an older lady doctor who, when she found out about the situation, offered the land behind her house, if the lady wanted to build her own house. So with the internet and lots of friendly volunteer help, the house went up.

We found this to be a very worthwhile movie, even though we see some of the abuse depicted most of the movie is the mother finding ways to care for her girls and get on with rebuilding her life, literally and figuratively.