This is a rather small movie and since there are very few reviews I surmise that relatively few have seen it. It features Anna Paquin and was directed by her husband. Set in a London community, it ends in Scarborough on the NE England coast.
As the story developed it reminded me of the 2020 movie "Dare to Dream" with Katie Holmes and Josh Lucas, where she was a widow and this mysterious man shows up just in time to help her get her life together.
This story is quite different but it features Luca Hogan as Neil, a boy of 13 about to turn 14. He is always nice and proper and has a knack for saying the right thing at the right moment. He claims he never gets cold and he says his older parents don't care where he is. I began to wonder if he represented some sort of divine facilitator who would disappear just when his job was done.
Anna Paquin is Ella, about to turn 40. (Probably her actual age during filming.) We see she is living in her father's house and we gradually learn she lost her children to their dad and his new wife because of her problem with alcoholism. She is required to attend meetings but she hates them. When Neil enters her life, when both of them are on the playground observing kids at play, he has a positive influence on her.
Ella goes through anger and self-pity for being in the situation she created but I found the quiet scenes between Ella and Niel to be the most interesting. While I wouldn't classify this as a great movie it is interesting and Paquin is good in the role. My wife and I watched it streaming at home.
As the story developed it reminded me of the 2020 movie "Dare to Dream" with Katie Holmes and Josh Lucas, where she was a widow and this mysterious man shows up just in time to help her get her life together.
This story is quite different but it features Luca Hogan as Neil, a boy of 13 about to turn 14. He is always nice and proper and has a knack for saying the right thing at the right moment. He claims he never gets cold and he says his older parents don't care where he is. I began to wonder if he represented some sort of divine facilitator who would disappear just when his job was done.
Anna Paquin is Ella, about to turn 40. (Probably her actual age during filming.) We see she is living in her father's house and we gradually learn she lost her children to their dad and his new wife because of her problem with alcoholism. She is required to attend meetings but she hates them. When Neil enters her life, when both of them are on the playground observing kids at play, he has a positive influence on her.
Ella goes through anger and self-pity for being in the situation she created but I found the quiet scenes between Ella and Niel to be the most interesting. While I wouldn't classify this as a great movie it is interesting and Paquin is good in the role. My wife and I watched it streaming at home.
