What an amazing film Vera Drake (imdb | rotten tomatoes) was. It felt like I’d been invited to spend time with a family in 1950 London, to see their existence, as if it weren’t a dramatization so much as a faithful recreation of something that never happened. The detail around the characters’ lives, the lingering effects of the war, the faithfulness to the period…all just made it such a real experience. I usually stay very detached from movies, very aware that it’s all just effects and scripts…but I got completely sucked into this story.

The most amazing part, of course, was Imelda Staunton. She went from such energy and cheer in the early scenes to such complete dispair and shame in the end, such transformation on multiple levels, it’s little wonder she received an Oscar nomination (and Mike Leigh for writing/directing). Amazing performance by the other cast members too. Can’t recommend it enough.