Herself (2021)

Herself (2021)

A low-budget but effective drama about a woman’s journey to achieving true independence

The Very Best

8.0

Movie

Ireland, Ireland United Kingdom
English
Drama
2020
FEMALE DIRECTOR, PHYLLIDA LLOYD
Anita Petry, Cathy Belton, Clare Dunne
97 min

What it's about

Struggling to provide her daughters with a safe, happy home, Sandra decides to build one - from scratch. Using all her ingenuity to make her ambitious dream a reality, Sandra draws together a community to lend a helping hand to build her house and ultimately recover her own sense of self.

The take

Herself tells the story of Sandra (Clare Dunne), a single mother who runs away from her abusive husband to start a new life with her children. When welfare and charity prove to be insufficient with their help, she takes things into her hands by building a house of her own.

This Irish movie, co-written by star Clare Dunne, may be small in scale and budget, but it is affecting in big and powerful ways. Despite what girlbosses might tell you, chasing full independence isn't always as easy or even empowering as it looks, especially when you're stuck in the lower rungs of society like Sandra; Herself takes the honest approach by showing us the unglamorous side of making it on your own. It also has meaningful things to say about marriage and divorce, so if you were moved by Marriage Story or Kramer vs Kramer, you may feel the same about Herself, which references the latter two's iconic courtroom scenes.

Comments

Add a comment

UP NEXT 

UP NEXT 

UP NEXT 

The Guilty (2018)

A minimalist, razor-sharp thriller that will have you gasping for air.

9.0

System Crasher (2019)

A tale of trauma and one of the most talked about movies on Netflix in 2020.

9.0

Hack Your Health: The Secrets of Your Gut (2024)

An informative, artistic, and digestible tribute to the digestive system

7.0

Forgotten Love (2023)

The stunning third take of the classic Polish pre-war melodrama

7.7

Testament of Youth (2014)

A lovely, though fairly standard, memoir adaptation of the famous British pacifist

6.9

Hilary and Jackie (1998)

Two sisters, bound by music, is torn by genius and fame in this tragic, heartwrenching biopic

7.6

The Breaking Ice (2023)

Three lost souls find a warm connection in this wintry, delicate drama

7.0

Breaking the Waves (1996)

Lars von Trier breaks his rules in the tearjerking first film of the Golden Heart trilogy

8.1

Leave the World Behind (2023)

Shyamalan meets Black Mirror in this hugely entertaining, visually inventive apocalyptic thriller with a killer ending

8.2

Hail Satan? (2019)

Forget everything you think you know about the Satanic Temple

8.0

Curated by humans, not algorithms.

agmtw logo

© 2024 agoodmovietowatch, all rights reserved.