When your life has taken a downward turn, it is easy to feel like everything is rigged against you. This is the experience of Molly (Posy Sterling), who having just spent a few months in prison is desperate to keep custody of her two children. It proves to be a more difficult challenge than she ever anticipated, and writer-director Daisy-May Hudson's latest film follows Molly as she overcomes a number of structural and personal hurdles on her quest to keep her family together.
Having come out of prison with nowhere to live, Molly cannot be given custody of her children – they cannot go home with her if she doesn't have a home, as she is told. Angry at the situation, Molly makes some drastic decisions that threaten the relationship she has with her children, not to mention totally alienating her mother (TerriAnn Cousins) with whom she already has a fractious relationship. A potential silver lining is a rekindled friendship with her old college friend Amina (Idil Ahmed), who is going through issues of her own.
This is not Hudson's first film that tackles the issue of homelessness. Her documentary Half Way (2015) does so as well, and like Lollipop does so by prioritising the perspective of one family. Hudson delivers a sympathetic and nuanced depiction of rough sleeping that breaks some of the stereotypes of homelessness without drawing attention to itself, capturing the at times frightening reality Molly has to confront. What's devastating about Lollipop is that it keenly captures how the care and custody system is rigged against those who find themselves with no fixed address, capturing them in a catch-22 situation. Hudson cuts through much of the bureaucratic jargon to place Molly's emotional and familial situation at the heart of the film, ensuring that Lollipop remains a deeply affecting story not weighed down by technicality.
Molly is far from a perfect protagonist, and often it is difficult to really get on her side after she makes yet another questionable decision. But Sterling does a fantastic job of capturing Molly's explosive mixture of vulnerability, love, and anger. Her anguish at missing out on significant moments of her children's lives is clear to see, as is the joy when she is allowed to spend time with them. Her bond with Amina is also incredibly touching; a rediscovered friendship that comes at just the right time. The twist of fate that works in both of their favour is at once heartwarming and also a bleak indictment of the state of the world.
Hudson captures both the highs and lows of the story with a care and steadiness that doesn't become swallowed up by the heightened tensions throughout the film. It is often tenderly and lovingly filmed, such as during a scene where Molly and her children are camping in the countryside. It is this ability to capture family at its most loving, dysfunctional, and meaningful that gives Lollipop such a powerful mixture of heart and sincerity, while also making room for the lighter moments that stop the whole affair from feeling dragged down to Ken Loach levels of grim.
Lollipop asks difficult questions such as how the quality of motherhood is assessed and measured, or even if it can or should be. It is at once a look at the importance of family and how the current bureaucratic and economic situation makes it more difficult than ever for too many people to live the life that they deserve. The optimistic note that the film ends on points to a future where every family can find the happiness they deserve, even if the road they take to get there is full of bumps and wrong turns.
Lollipop had its world premiere on 20th August 2024 as part of the 77th Edinburgh International Film Festival.
