Ladybird, Ladybird (1994)

Ken Loach takes his viewers on a painful true journey of a mother fighting for the right to raise her children.  Maggie Conlan (played with unbelievable rage and passion by Crissy Rock) meets Jorge (Vladimir Vega) at Karaoke night and they fall in love.  A victim of child abuse and a string of bad relationships, she tells him how Social Services took her four children (all of different men) away from her.  It's clear she's not the most stable mothers out there but she deeply loves her kids.  As Maggie and Jorge's relationship deepen and they start their own family, it's clear Social Services will stand in their way.  Maggie's bouts of raging attacks against the people taking her children away (and can you blame her?) only further the couples struggles.  The fact that this is based on true events only condemns England's social services' policies.  True, Maggie isn't the brightest but there must be a different response than ripping apart a family.  What makes this film so powerful isn't just the story but how it's filmed.  It feels like a documentary and because the actors look and sound genuine it only greater impacts the audience's reaction.  Grade: A-