This is the story of Mia, a 15-year-old girl who is a rebellious loner with an attitude. We come to see that it is perfectly understandable why she has an attitude. She lives in a London tenement with her alcoholic mother Joanne and her younger sister; the relationship between Mia and her mother is antagonistic, when they deign to acknowledge each other, and the relationship between Mia and her sister is presented as mutually hostile. Joanne at one point tells Mia that she came very close to aborting her and Joanne's actions would indicate that she may have regretted not having gone through with it. Mia has been tossed out of school (for behavior we can well imagine) and dodges every attempt to get her into a correctional school. She wanders the streets and turns to drink whenever she can get it.
So, the first part of the movie establishes that Mia is in a miserable situation and on a downward spiral. The only thing she seems to enjoy is practicing break dancing in her room. One problem I had with the dancing was that there were too many of those scenes and they went on too long, beside which Mia is not all that good of a dancer. After a time Joanne brings home a handsome man named Conner and it looks for a while like Conner might supply a worthy father image that would stabilize the family dynamics. But this goes horribly wrong in a way that you might expect.
It is hard for me to comment on a movie like this. It has its admirable qualities. For example, I could sympathize with Mia and her depressing situation, mainly due to Katie Jarvis' performance. But what is the takeaway? I am well aware that there are people in situations like Mia's and the benefit to me of spending two hours being reminded of that is minimal. Maybe if I were the United Kingdom Prime Minister, I could respond in some positive way, but the movie just left me feeling empty.
There are a couple of people in Mia's life who have something to offer. When Mia finally gets fed up and flees, she hugs her sister warmly and each of them says, "I hate you." This is the first indication we get of any love between the sisters. In the final scene Mia is headed off with Billy, a male friend she met while cruising a trailer park. Billy's main pursuit is scavenging auto junk yards for parts that might resuscitate an old Volvo he is working on. I don't think Billy is going to save Mia, but escaping her stifling environment is a step in the right direction. If you are given to optimism you can think that a scrappy girl like Mia will make her way in the world, but I think the odds are probably against her.
So, the first part of the movie establishes that Mia is in a miserable situation and on a downward spiral. The only thing she seems to enjoy is practicing break dancing in her room. One problem I had with the dancing was that there were too many of those scenes and they went on too long, beside which Mia is not all that good of a dancer. After a time Joanne brings home a handsome man named Conner and it looks for a while like Conner might supply a worthy father image that would stabilize the family dynamics. But this goes horribly wrong in a way that you might expect.
It is hard for me to comment on a movie like this. It has its admirable qualities. For example, I could sympathize with Mia and her depressing situation, mainly due to Katie Jarvis' performance. But what is the takeaway? I am well aware that there are people in situations like Mia's and the benefit to me of spending two hours being reminded of that is minimal. Maybe if I were the United Kingdom Prime Minister, I could respond in some positive way, but the movie just left me feeling empty.
There are a couple of people in Mia's life who have something to offer. When Mia finally gets fed up and flees, she hugs her sister warmly and each of them says, "I hate you." This is the first indication we get of any love between the sisters. In the final scene Mia is headed off with Billy, a male friend she met while cruising a trailer park. Billy's main pursuit is scavenging auto junk yards for parts that might resuscitate an old Volvo he is working on. I don't think Billy is going to save Mia, but escaping her stifling environment is a step in the right direction. If you are given to optimism you can think that a scrappy girl like Mia will make her way in the world, but I think the odds are probably against her.