FISH TANK (England)

 On the face of it, not my kind of movie at all. The lead, a 15 year old girl called Mia living in a high rise council flat, No 75, with her mother and a younger kid sister called around the age of 10. She is smart and has potential but just can't get it right. Her skill is as a dancer, especially rap. 

The problem is Mia cannot find anything or anyone stable to cling onto. Her mother is off her face on drugs most of the time, and badmouths her when she is not. Younger sister Tyler bad mouths her too, but lets her love shine through when she is not on the defensive. The other people she mixes with are rough neck foul mouthed neighbourhood girls her own age, some local teenage boys who own a horse, and her mother's new handsome boyfriend. 

But she is strong, and manages on her own. She has her own set of values and stays on the side of good while surrounded by bad. What held my attention throughout this movie was I did not know what Mia in particular and the others in general were going to do next. It was always 'real', never contrived. 

It may seem a bit trite at the beginning, but stick with it. Something very profound happens before the end. A film worth seeing. 

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