In the days following the London bombings of July 7, 2005 (or 7/7 as it is known in the UK), Elizabeth (Brenda Blethyn) comes to the city from her Guernsey farm, searching for her daughter, while Ousmane (Sotigui Kouyaté), a West African Muslim, has come from France looking for his estranged son. Both are stunned by the chaos of the big city, concerned their children may have been caught in the bombing. The tale of two people’s lives intersecting with a terrorist act is politically on-the-nose, but it is told with a great delicacy, supported by the strength of the two leads. Blethyn channels both small-minded fear and tender warmth, while Kouyaté’s dignified and delicately concerned face is alone worth the price of the rental.
This article appears in Mar 8-14, 2012.