''Herself'' is a 2020

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Phyllida Lloyd Phyllida Christian Lloyd, (born 17 June 1957) is an English film director and producer, best known for '' Mamma Mia!'' (2008) and '' The Iron Lady'' (2011). Her theatre work includes directing productions at the Royal Court Theatre and Royal N ...

, from a screenplay by Malcolm Campbell and Clare Dunne. The film stars Dunne,

Harriet Walter Dame Harriet Mary Walter (born 24 September 1950) is a British actress. She has received a Laurence Olivier Award as well as numerous nominations including for a Tony Award, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In 20 ...

and

Conleth Hill Conleth Seamus Eoin Croiston Hill (born 24 November 1964) is an actor from Northern Ireland. He has performed on stage in productions in the UK, Ireland, Canada and the United States. He has won two Laurence Olivier Awards and received two Ton ...

. ''Herself'' had its world premiere at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

on 24 January 2020 and was released in the United States in a

limited release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few theaters across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...

on 30 December 2020, followed by digital streaming on

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming and Renting, rental service of Amazon (c ...

on 8 January 2021 by

Amazon Studios Amazon Studios is an American television and film producer and distributor that is a subsidiary of Amazon. It specializes in developing television series and distributing and producing films. It was started in late 2010. Content is distributed th ...

Premise

Single mother Sandra ( Clare Dunne) has been struggling to get by with her two young daughters after leaving her abusive husband. After the housing system refuses to give her a new home, Sandra decides to build her own with the help of a friendly community and a handful of new friends. With this new purpose, Sandra rediscovers herself: that is until her abusive former husband sues her for custody of the children.

Cast

* Clare Dunne as Sandra *

as Peggy *

as Aido * Molly McCann as Molly * Ruby Rose O'Hara as Emma *

Cathy Belton Cathy Belton is an Irish actress who has appeared in a wide range of stage, film, radio and television productions. Born in the west of Ireland, she is a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin. Her stage work includes many productions in the Abbey ...

as Jo * Rebecca O'Mara as Grainne * Ericka Roe as Amy *

Ian Lloyd Anderson Ian Lloyd Anderson (born 4 June 1986) is an Irish actor best known for his role as Dean in '' Love/Hate''. In 2015, Anderson joined the cast of the HBO series ''Game of Thrones'' in season 5 A season is a division of the year based on change ...

as Gary * Sean Duggan as Ciaran Crowley * Aaron Lockhart as Tomo * Anita Petry as Rosa * Dmitry Vinokurov as Dariusz

Production

In March 2019, it was announced

would direct the film, from a screenplay by Malcolm Campbell and Clare Dunne, and that Dunne would also star in the film. In April 2019,

and

joined the cast of the film.

Release

It had its world premiere at the

on 24 January 2020. Shortly after,

acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film. It was released in the United States in a

on 30 December 2020, followed by digital streaming on

on 8 January 2021.

Reception

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The website's critics consensus reads: "Sensitively directed by Phyllida Lloyd and brought to life by co-writer Clare Dunne's stunning performance, ''Herself'' charts one woman's journey with empathy and grace."

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

reports a score of 71 out of 100, based on 19 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Notes

References

External links

* {{Phyllida Lloyd 2020 films 2020 drama films 2020s British films 2020s English-language films Amazon Studios films BBC Film films British courtroom films British drama films English-language Irish films Films about child abuse Films about divorce Films about domestic violence Films about dysfunctional families Films about poverty in the United Kingdom Films directed by Phyllida Lloyd Films scored by Natalie Holt Irish drama films