"Cradle"

22 January 2026

1 min 48s

The human league.

There's a subtle device used in this immensely touching film for Homestart that really underlines the humanising aspect of the support offered by the organisation. As the story unfolds, we are slowly shown the faces of the two adult protagonists - mum and the carer - and they shift from being anonymous to being relatable. Seldom have we seen a film that achieves this obvious aim so successfully.

This was a labour of love, made for a tiny budget, but you would never know it as director Lucy Bridger has delivered an outcome that comfortably sits alongside better funded projects from a production values perspective and completely surpasses them in terms of heart.

None of this would have been possible without every member of the crew giving up their time for free. It speaks to the importance of the project that they were willing to do so. Many people in the UK, like many in other countries around the world, are on their knees because of the cost of living crisis - a phenomenon that should really be called the greedy-fat-cats crisis, as we seem to be powerless to stop successive governments from making it easier than ever for oligarchs to siphon money from the poorest among us directly into their wallets.

The result of this disparity is plain to see... and the spiral of despair to which it leads has been vividly caught by this film. In the long run we need meaningful political change, but in the short term we need to offer as much support as possible to families caught in the poverty trap, and this film is a highly effective way of drawing attention to their plight.

UK

Charities