Hannah Wyatt (Joely Richardson) is a single mother who lives with her 9 year-old son Oliver (Sam Bould) and her architect boyfriend Frank Donally (Jason Flemyng). Hannah was married to Dr. Martyn Wyatt (Martin Donovan), but their relationship ended when Martyn acknowledged his homosexuality and left her to move in with his lover, Tom Dixon (Ian Hart). Oliver has suffered several injuries in recent months, and one day Hannah comes home from work to discover that Frank has severely wounded Oliver's hand when he lashed out with violence over some minor misbehavior. Hannah kicks Frank out of the house. But he returns, begging forgiveness and promises he'll never hurt Oliver again. She takes him back. Oliver is neither cute and precocious, nor too obviously traumatised. Martyn learns of Frank's violence against his son, and he sues to have full custody of Oliver for the sake of the child's safety. However, Hannah is terrified of both losing her son and being left without a man in her life. She and Frank join forces in court against Martyn, using his homosexuality as their chief weapon against him and try to poison Oliver's mind with homophobia against his father.
This tense domestic drama about child abuse and anti-gay prejudice features a good script and good acting. It's a British film made for Channel Four TV that is complex, intelligent, and emotionally charged, with one of the most convincing trial scenes on film. The soundtrack features selections recorded for the film by Elvis Costello, Annie Lennox, and Paul Weller, with incidental music composed by Anne Dudley. Paula Milne wrote the script from Neville Bolt's story. Angela Pope directed.
