A heart-wrenching, serious, dignified film based on the true story of Margaret Humphreys, a Nottingham social worker who discovered that 130,000 British children had been deported to Australia in the 1950s. Emily Watson plays Humphreys, and she deeply mines the social worker’s growing emotions with subtlety and understanding. Humphreys tried to find the parents and families of the children (many were not orphans) sent to Australian children’s homes that were more like workhouses.
Some boys sent into the care of the Church suffered sexual abuse, and Humphreys is like a human poultice, sucking the pain from their wounds. This is Loach’s first feature (he is the son of Ken); sometimes it feels like a television documentary.
Jim Loach, 15 (100min)