In certain heartbreaking instances, children are separated from their parents by the State, supposedly in hopes of finding them a better home. But for plenty of British and commonwealth orphans, the government process is, at worst, systematically designed to separate families to support the Kingdom’s colonies. While the film isn’t really focused on the details and the rationale behind the program, Oranges and Sunshine is much more concerned with the fact that it happened– that it has harmed hundreds of thousands of children for hundred years, and that it only took someone who cared enough to pay attention for things to actually change. It’s a decent depiction of Margaret Humphreys’ work, and it does a great job in promoting the Child Migrants Trust.
"This is a solid debut, but the hangover from Loach's TV past looks large on the big screen."
— Laura Bushell
"A deeply moving study of emotionally scarred adults who were illegally deported as children to Australia from Britain in the 1940s and '50s."
— Richard Kuipers
The story of Margaret Humphreys, a social worker from Nottingham, who uncovers one of the most significant social scandals in recent times – the forced migration of children from the United Kingdom to Australia and other Commonwealth countries. Almost singlehandedly, Margaret reunited thousands of families, brought authorities to account and worldwide attention to an extraordinary miscarriage of justice.
Nottingham, 1986. After years employed as a social worker, Margaret Humphreys protests against Home Children– the child migration scheme that took thousands of impoverished British orphans to workhouses in various Commonwealth countries.
Emily Watson. With her previous depictions of real life people, it’s not surprising to see her do well here, grounding the entire film with her performance.
I wish the film cut at the heart of the issue, but it’s admirable that Jim Loach primarily focused on the deported orphans and hearing their stories.
