BBC: "Our Girl" (pic spam and spoilery comments)
Blurb: On the evening of her 18th birthday, Molly Dawes finds herself drunk and is sick in the doorway of an army recruitment office. She looks into the window of the office and sees a life-sized photograph of an army girl, everything that Molly isn't but wants to be - respected. The following morning, Molly finds herself back in the locale and steels herself sufficiently to go into the recruitment office. Truculent and full of self doubt, she takes the leaflets and is eventually persuaded to complete an aptitude test.
No-one thinks she can stick it out, including herself. But slowly and surely, Molly is maturing and learning to believe in herself. She digs in and finds a strength that she never thought she had.
*
I really, really enjoyed this when I didn't expect I would given that it's pretty much blatant recruitment propaganda. For me though, it was all about seeing the transformation of someone with no respect or self-worth into a person who has achieved something.
When we meet 18 year old girl Molly Dawes, she lives in a crowded Newham council house with her underclass family. Having left school with no qualifications, she finds herself working in a local nail bar.
Molly's mother is tired to the bone and now pregnant with her sixth child. Molly's father is depressed and angry since losing his job as a Sky dish fitter and now finding solace in a pint glass.
Molly's Albanian boyfriend Artan is unfaithful and pretty worthless - constantly making her jealous with his infidelities. Life looks bleak and without purpose.
On the night of her 18th birthday, Molly goes out with her friends.
By the end of the night, she staggers outside drunk, wretched and alone. She is promptly sick in the doorway of an army recruitment office.
The next day as she is removing a tattoo of the worthless Artan from her wrist, she looks through the window at the recruitment office again.
She takes the leaflets and is eventually persuaded to complete an aptitude test. A few days later a letter arrives inviting her to go on a two day assessment course to see if she is a suitable candidate for basic training. This is the first thing she feels she has ever succeeded at in her life. But still convinced it will come to nothing and she'll be found out and sent packing, she doesn't tell her family, friends or more importantly Artan.
During the two day visit, she finds it hard to settle. She is a wild child, badly behaved and mouthy.
When she first meets a girl named Katy, she is rude and abrupt.
But deep down, she wants to give it a proper go. When she is told she has to introduce herself to the group, she at first refuses.
Then, reluctantly she returns to the front and gives a very frank talk about her life, freely admitting that it's going nowhere and expressing her fears that she'll end up pregnant with some guy who will just tread all over her dreams. She confides that she wants something more. It sounds cheesey but Molly is so awkward and rough with her speech that she makes it very sincere and touching.
Her candour touches Katy
During the run, when Katy twists her ankle, Molly defies orders and insists on stopping to help her - thereby compromising her own run time
When Molly realises she has brought skanky clothing instead of interview clothes, Katy helps her out.
During the interview, the interviewer tells her that her results are mixed and that people are divided on her suitability for the army.
Molly begs for a chance to prove herself - she wants very hard to succeed at something in life.
Then you see her sitting outside and crying. You want to cry with her because she looks so incredibly alone - but then you realise that she's crying because she's been accepted :)
There is something so sincere and heartfelt about Lacey Turner's performance.
Lacey takes her parents out to lunch to break the news.
Unfortunately, they automatically assume that she's telling them that she's pregnant. "Do you think I"m pregnant????"
They look a bit sheepish but it's clear that that's what they had expected her to say.
"I'm not pregnant, I'm joining the army!"
Artan, worthless and unsupportive as ever, doesn't want her to join
Nonetheless, Molly goes to training, her face uncharacteristically serene and happy
She swears her oath of allegiance
Meets her training corporal
Her smirk gets her in trouble
A spot locker check reveals unexpected friends, support and solidarity that she has never known before.
Then the intensive training begins
The recruits are told to write a letter to their family in case they are killed during their deployment
Molly finds that she fits in with the other recruits - she has a place
She continues to be a person who helps her peers when they are in trouble
During one training night - it's like girl's camp and it's lovely to see her so happy
She is reminded of the importance of the training and of belonging to the 'family'
There is a serious reminder of the gravity of the job when she accompanies the parents of a deceased soldier who have come to collect his things
Her training continues
The recruist are given leave to go home
Molly takes Katy with her when it appears Katy has nowhere to go
Once home, she realises she no longer belongs with her friends and family - her father disowns her for refusing to marry the worthless Artan
She has a further conversation with her training corporal about the training, the army
The transformation in Molly is not just physical, you can see it touching her soul
She desperately wants her mother to come and see her graduation but her father has cut all ties
Graduation day comes at last
Molly's smile of accomplishment and pride is very beautiful
But she is alone
Katy comes to wish her goodbye
Molly moves on to the next stage of her training
Lacey Turner really carries the movie.
In the hands of a lesser actress, this could have been really awful but she is so believable in the beginning as a down and out, useless girl with no self-worth who pulls herself out of her situation and makes herself a better person. In the beginning, Molly's face is all twisted and bitter with discontent and unhappiness but as the movie progresses, Molly's face becomes more serene and tranquil. It's quite amazing to watch.
Trailer is here:
Click to viewYou can watch the full episode at youtube over here.
Here's an embedded version: