Reviews

 

"At heart, it is a story about the love between a boy and his mother. His dad dead, ten-year-old Paul (Harry Eden) heads his household, looking after his younger brother and smack-addicted mother (Molly Parker).

She's in thrall to her lover, Lenny (David Wenham), a local dealer and pimp. His "medicine", Paul comes to realise, isn't doing any good. When a friend dies through an overdose, he sets about trying to get his mum clean, and pals up with worldly waitress Louise (Keira Knightley).

A former youth worker and teacher, MacKinnon certainly knows how to handle a young cast. Entrusted with carrying the film, Eden is a belligerent, magnetic presence, while Knightley suggests she's capable of more than sulking prettily.

Of the adults, Wenhan impresses - bringing nuance to a nasty piece of work (and requiring a double take when you realise he was Faramir in "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers"." - Nev Pierce, BBCi Films