Screening introduced by Rachel Kushner

Crissy Rock is astonishing in Loach’s tender drama as Maggie Conlan, a thirtysomething woman with four children by four different fathers, each of the children taken into custody by Social Services. When, at a precarious moment, she meets Paraguayan refugee Jorge (Vladimir Vega), she believes she’s found a lover who’s also a true partner, and when she becomes pregnant again feels fully prepared to care for their child, but Social Services aren’t inclined to believe in revelatory life changes for someone like Maggie, deemed once and forever unreliable. Rock’s lacerating performance is all the more remarkable when one considers this was the very first acting role for the Liverpudlian stand-up comic.

Screening as part of Rachel Kushner's Dream Double Feature.