Blessed

Overview

The intractable bond between mother and child is scrutinised in Ana Kokkino’s heart wrenching new film. A multi-narrative tale based on the play Who’s Afraid of the Working Class?, Blessed brings together an impressive cast of child and adult actors to weave together a confronting portrait of love, loss and the meaning of home.
 
The film’s structural separation into two parts – The Children and The Mothers – underscores the emotional schism that divides each child from their mother. Homelessness, sex, alcohol and theft are but symptoms of this underlying malaise. Beginning with the children, Kokkino asks much of her child actors, most of whom tackle their harrowing storylines with conviction – albeit occasionally appearing a little forced. Cillian Murphy look-alike Eamon Farren is a stand out as the sexually exploited Roo, while Harrison Gilbertson lays himself emotionally bare as little-boy-lost, Daniel.
 
Blessed moves on to more assured ground with the mothers. Deborah-Lee Furness, Miranda Otto and newcomer Victoria Haralabidou flex their fine acting muscles with impressive nuance. While William McInnes inverts his masculine gravitas as a disaffected husband, struggling to turn a blind eye. Wayne Blair and Monica Maughan deserve special mention for their affecting reminiscence on a mixed race adoption, however it is Frances O’Connor who steals the show. As the neglectful, unredeemable Rhonda, O’Conner is utterly captivating, and her climactic scene is delivered with an unforgettable, visceral power.
 
This is obviously not a light-hearted trip to the cinema. Indeed it may well test your threshold for dysfunctionality. And yet while Kokinno is fearless in her pared down, naturalistic approach to the film, Blessed is perhaps better suited to the more intimate arena of the stage.