''The Unloved'' is a British

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

starring Molly Windsor,

Robert Carlyle Robert Carlyle (born 14 April 1961) is a Scottish actor. His film work includes '' Trainspotting'' (1996), ''The Full Monty'' (1997), ''The World Is Not Enough'' (1999), ''Angela's Ashes'' (1999), '' The Beach'' (2000), ''28 Weeks Later'' (20 ...

Susan Lynch Susan Lynch (born 5 June 1971) is a Northern Irish actress. three-times an IFTA Award winner, she also won the British Independent Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for the 2003 film ''16 Years of Alcohol''. Her other film appearances in ...

and

Lauren Socha Lauren Marie Socha (born 9 June 1990) is an English actress. She rose to prominence during her role as Kelly Bailey in the E4 comedy-drama television series ''Misfits'', for which she won a BAFTA TV Award in the Best Supporting Actress categor ...

. It is about an eleven-year-old girl called Lucy (Windsor) growing up in a

children's home Residential child care communities or children's homes are a type of residential care, which refers to long-term care given to children who cannot stay in their birth family home. There are two different approaches towards residential care: The fam ...

in the UK's care system, and shown through her perspective. It is the directorial debut of Golden Globe Award-winning and two-time

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

-nominated actress

Samantha Morton Samantha Jane Morton (born 13 May 1977) is an English actress and director. Known for her work in independent cinema, she is the recipient of numerous accolades, including a BAFTA Award and a Golden Globe Award, as well as nominations for two ...

. The story is semi-autobiographical, Morton wrote and produced the film in collaboration with screenwriter Tony Grisoni. It was produced for

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

and shown as part of its Britain's Forgotten Children series, and was first broadcast on 17 May 2009. The film drew an audience of two million viewers. It had a premiere at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival and received a limited release in 2010.

Cast

* Molly Windsor – Lucy *

– Mother *

– Father *

– Lauren *

Craig Parkinson Craig Parkinson (born 11 March 1976) is an English actor and podcaster. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Shaun in the E4 series '' Misfits'', twins Jimmy and Johnny Kray in the ITV series ''Whitechapel'', and DI Matthew "Dot" Cottan ...

– Ben *

Andrea Lowe Andrea Lowe (born 1 May 1975 in Arnold, Nottinghamshire) is an English actress. Career She started her theatre career at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre in the play '' The Birthday Party'' by Harold Pinter.Kerry Stacey Kerry Stacey (born in 1977) is an English actress who is best known for playing Toni Daggert in ITV's ''Emmerdale''. Stacey has had a role on BBC1's Doctors, she commented "I play a character whose sister has committed suicide and she is ree ...

– Social worker *

Michael Socha Michael Robert Socha (born 13 December 1987) is an English actor, known for his roles in the films ''This Is England'' and ''Summer'', and the television series ''This Is England '86'', '' '88'', '' '90'', '' Being Human'', '' Once Upon a Time ...

– Michael * Katie Withers – Jules

Production

Filmed entirely on location in Morton's hometown of

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

, the film cost £1.5 million to make. The title of the film was inspired by a newspaper article Morton had read about children in the foster care system. Morton spent time in other cities such as

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

and around

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

although decided it was best to make a film about the world she knew and grew up in. Originally wanting to set the film in 1989, Morton later decided against it as she wanted to focus on the struggles of the present day and not want audiences to write it off as a historical piece.

Awards

The film won Robert Carlyle a

Scottish BAFTA BAFTA in Scotland is the Scottish branch of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Formed in 1986, the branch holds two annual awards ceremonies recognising the achievement by performers and production staff in Scottish film, televis ...

for best TV actor in November 2009. On 10 May 2010 it was announced that the film had been nominated for 'Best Single Drama'; Lauren Socha was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. On 6 June 2010, The Unloved won the BAFTA for Best Single Drama.

Critical reception

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

s Michael Deacon gave the film a positive review describing it as 'Riveting' and 'Powerful from start to finish'; On the other hand, he stated the film was 'Stomach churning' and 'Hard to watch'; however to his surprise he couldn't take his eyes off the film and praised Morton on creating an 'Intense' and 'Vivid' dramatic film.

Home media

As of May 2011, the show is available on DVD from Oscilloscope.

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Unloved, The 2009 films 2009 television films British television films Channel 4 original programming Foster care in the United Kingdom Films about child abuse 2009 directorial debut films 2000s English-language films