Lynn + Lucy

Saw the BBC logo and continued watching, more fool me.

Plus side, there was some great acting. There were also a couple of moments that took my breath, especially THAT confession from the main characters daughter.

The minus side, no real conclusion. Was she actually guilty then or not?

Overall... an embarrassing insight into the country we now live in. And some people think they're cool living like that.

While I'm very much a fan of British kitchen-sink realism, I found Lynn + Lucy to be excessively turgid and ultimately quite tiresome. I understand the style, I understand the message and I understand the level of confronting bleakness. But the endless hesitancy and sullen silences of Roxanne Scrimshaw just became exhausting. People may wax lyrical about her performance but I found her portrayal to be contrived and unrealistic. I appreciate what Boulifa is trying to do with this film but for me it just felt a little forced and indulgent.

Nicola Burley is the only light in this drama, the rest of it is dull. There is no ending, almost a depressing soap episode that doesn't have a follow through. The roles are all generic and nothing different. The monotonous dull scenes of how Lynn was feeling made me want to hit the fast forward button, although I didn't, when I got to the end I wish I had. Like watching paint dry.

Social drama that says a great deal about society today. Our own weaknesses and dreams never happening. How we cope and address them by not being honest at the cause of the problem and how our complacency allows it to continue. A film that examines all these issues and doesn't judge. Powerful stuff.

Movie night with Iris.

Debut from writer-director Fyzal Boulifa documents irresponsible parenting and its catastrophic results. However, of greater interest is the haste and heartlessness of the judgements which follow, with vilification spreading through a working-class community like a virus.

Filmed in nearby Harlow shot in a narrow frame Essex, you feel as trapped as the estate protagonists. Lynn + Lucy is a thought-provoking, worthy watch that asks us to see the human beings behind the horor headlines and consider the consequences of our words.