Unfortunately the first time a Mike Leigh film hasn’t worked for me, which is impressive considering I’ve seen all but 3 of his features. 

Whilst I appreciate the simplicity and brevity of this when compared to a film like Secrets & Lies, it’s also far more sentimental than any other film in Leigh’s catalogue, with an annoying tendency towards plot contrivances as well. Whilst I can see the motivation behind the dual narratives — and the stylistic differentiation is interesting on…