September 20, 2024

This had the makings of quite compelling drama dealing with loss, grief and longing but somehow the practical elements of the story as it played out didn't work for me. "John" (Jared Harris) and wife "Mary" (Juliet Stevenson) and happily enough married but it soon becomes clear that their daughter "Clare" got caught up with a bad-influence boyfriend and ran away from home some the years ago. The police suggest a revitalised campaign to support th… read the rest.

This had the makings of quite compelling drama dealing with loss, grief and longing but somehow the practical elements of the story as it played out didn't work for me. "John" (Jared Harris) and wife "Mary" (Juliet Stevenson) and happily enough married but it soon becomes clear that their daughter "Clare" got caught up with a bad-influence boyfriend and ran away from home some the years ago. The police suggest a revitalised campaign to support the impending anniversary of her disappearance and next thing there's a girl in their kitchen (Erin Doherty) armed with plenty of quite intimate knowledge of this couple and asserting that she's the long lost "Clare". "Mary" oozes a sort of maternal desperation to believe and welcomes her pretty unconditionally. "John", on the other hand, is much more sceptical and as the story unfolds this puts quite a strain on their relationship. Now the father does insist on some sort of DNA test, but not realistically - for my money - emphatically enough. He has significant doubts yet the plot allows her to take advantage of the vulnerable mother without his much more robust interventions to prove one way or the other. I know such scenarios can never black and white, but given the police are continuing to investigate - and coming up with leads that could prove/disprove the identity of their new child, I felt the story took just a little too contrived a direction and at times might be considered a bit cruel. Auteur Virgina Gilbert has dialled down the hysteria nicely and for such an emotive subject, she guides these two characters without too much histrionics and tantrums, but I just felt the thrust of the second half of the thing a touch too implausible from a man who must have loved and felt responsible for his wife as much as for a girl he hadn't seen in a decade. Stevenson is good in these down-to-earth roles, gels quite well with Harris and the film is worth a gander, but it's a bit unrealistic.

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January 1, 2026

An incredible film that really tugged hard on my emotions, and won. This movie broke me, but in a good cathartic way. My only criticism is that Jared Harris never hugs his 'daughter' Clare. But maybe that's just hos his character is meant to be. Or maybe that's just how British men are by default.

But otherwise, such an emotional drama.