TENDER LOVING CARE Luminaries

Acclaimed British auteur Mike Leigh returns in top form with another astutely observed study on the resilience and compassion of ordinary people after the magnificent HARD TRUTHS (AFI FEST 2024), this time centering on the enduring friendship between two NHS social workers. Amy (Kate O’Flynn, dialing in a familiar charm as her Emmy ®-nominated role in WIDOW’S BAY), a child protection worker freshly out of a breakup, has moved back in with childhood best friend Rosie (Alice Bailey Johnson), a fellow social worker in another sector. Amidst well-intentioned concerns about her love life from Amy’s parents and an increasingly worrying ailment from her aging father, both women contend with the crushing demands of their jobs which are often met with thankless rejection and disavowal, but find comfort and humor in the presence of each other. Oscillating between their public and private lives, Leigh perceptively builds a texturally layered portrait of friendship, family and grief, while capturing the enduring grit and patience of healthcare workers in the face of the UK’s underfunded and understaffed social services sector. At once poignantly uplifting and achingly witty, TENDER LOVING CARE is yet another celebrated entry in Leigh’s tenured canon of exquisite, humanist stories. –Anna Li