All or Nothing

Residents of a dingy council estate get much needed jolts to open up and break out of their ruts. Among them are the Bassetts: parents Phil and Penny grind along in their jobs and grow distant until a crisis spurs them and friends into action. Leigh’s meticulous process stokes melancholic household dramas into tinderbox shocks, the tensions revealing themselves in characters’ tormented faces and a climactic outburst fuelled by long-hidden hurt. A gripping highlight among Leigh’s working-class dramas, All or Nothing sees the director at his prime with a humanistic and cathartic tour de force.

Cannes Film Festival: In Competition