A working-class family in London's East End is struggling to stay afloat during the recession under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's premiership. Only the mother Mavis is working; father Frank and the couple's two sons Colin, a timid, chronically shy individual and Mark, an outspoken, headstrong young man, are on the dole. This situation is contrasted by the presence of Mavis's sister Barbara, and her husband John, whose financial and social loftiness appears to be a comfortable facade over the unspoken soreness of a lackluster marriage.
Acting
Roth's physical anxiety is genuinely painful to watch—in a good way.
Direction
Leigh's improvised naturalism makes every awkward silence weaponized.
Writing
Dialogue so mundane it becomes devastating. The 'bacon' scene alone.
Director
Mike Leigh
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Leigh developed the script through weeks of improvisation with the cast, who only knew their own characters' backstories—not each other's.
Shot in 1983 for ITV, it was deemed too bleak for television and sat shelved for two years before a tiny theatrical release.
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