Acclaimed screen and stage writer-director Phyllida Lloyd (Mamma Mia!, The Iron Lady) has made it her life mission to put women centre stage. From an all female Shakespearean trilogy, or the film adaptation of a stage show constructed around Swedish pop gods ABBA, the stories that Lloyd tells are all about the experience of being female.
Lloyd’s latest film Herself, is a drama set in Dublin which deals with themes of domestic abuse and poverty. It stars the Donmar Warehouse’s all-female Shakespeare Trilogy castmates Clare Dunne and Harriet Walter (Sense and Sensibility, Atonement). Dunne has also written the screenplay alongside Malcolm Campbell.
Single mother Sandra (Dunne) has been struggling to get by with her two young daughters Molly (Molly McCann) and Emma (Ruby Rose O’Hara). After Dublin housing  officials  refuse to give her a new home for her and her children, cleaner Sandra takes matters into her own hands and decides to build her own with the help of the ailing Peggy (Walter), one of Sandra’s cleaning clients. As Sandra gains confidence and self belief her bitter abusive ex-husband sues her for custody of their two children. 

Although it is more than a little contrived, Lloyd’s film has oodles of charm and many uplifting moments. It’s a story of hope that can’t resist a bit of artifice and more than its fare share of contrivances, but also has some excellent performances from a brilliantly eclectic cast that showcases Dublin’s multicultural community.