DVD: The Unloved (15)

In the land of the dispossessed, belonging is king. Feeling loved is the antidote to the trauma of abandonment, the Holy Grail sought by Lauren Socha in Samantha Morton's The Unloved, a semi-biographical tale of children in care.

Social Services takes Lauren from her violent father (Robert Carlyle) who fails to understand his daughter's bewilderment when her mother leaves. We see the journey into care from a child's viewpoint; the emotional chaos of deserted souls, an abusive carer, and displacement etched in sociopathic behaviour. This is a journey taken by 11,000 children each year in the UK, 36,000 "at risk" youngsters will be lucky not to follow this route. It won't cheer you up, but it will sit you up.