Rebecca Ashton (Catherine McCormack) plays an Anglican priest who moves to a quiet town in Cornwall after the death by drowning of one of her teenage daughters. Here, she finds a 'replacement' daughter to help: Radka (Marina Stoimenova), a young Bulgarian girl who is dangerously self destructive, working as a flower picker and living in a ramshackle caravan. She needs help passing her English exam to be able to study for her arts degree, and Rebecca finds in her the redemption she needs so much.
The film is filled with a grim mood from the very start: scenes of her drowned daughter in a pool, shots of the cemetery around the church where she works, the pale photography tone. The presence of death is felt everywhere, and her sadness too. And her despair for redemption is so strong that she throws herself into the path of salvation: save her daughter (metaphorically) and herself by saving Radka.
But then it all becomes too
predictable: Radka coincidentally tries to end it all by drowning
herself in the sea. Rebecca (spoiler alert...) manages to save her (therefore saving her daughter's soul), and they all lived happily
ever after: Rebecca restoring her inner peace; Radka finally finding
an adoptive family and taking her English exam, to be able to have a
bright future far away from flower pickers and caravans. How lovely!
And to exemplify this
happily-ever-after ending, the closing scene
shows everyone outside of the caravan: Rebecca smiling more
than ever, flower pickers playing the violin, her daughter being
given the honour of playing a violin duet with the hot Bulgarian
flower picker guy, looking like he steeped out of an Armani ad. And
all of this around a log fire, the nice warm fire of happiness, of
burning the past and starting anew, like a nativity scene. All too
pretty and perfect for me.
The release date in UK cinemas is 28th
March 2014
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