Director: Lee Daniels
Cast: Gabourey Sidibe, Mo’Nique, Paula Paton, Mariah Carey
If you’re feeling down at the start of term, this could be the perfect film to put things into perspective. Claireece “Precious” Jones (Gabourey Sidibe) is an obese, illiterate 16-year-old girl living in 1980s Harlem. Her life is spent between school, where she sits in silence at the back of the class, and home, where she is a slave to her abusive mother (Mo’Nique). What’s more, she’s pregnant with her second child by her father, who has been abusing and raping her since she was three years old. Precious only survives her parents’ abuse and the taunts of other teenagers by escaping into a fantasy world where she is a confident, singing diva. It’s a small consolation.
Things begin to change when she is referred to an alternative school with a teacher (Paula Paton) who shows interest in Precious, perhaps for the first time in the young girl’s life. In a class full of misfit girls with similarly difficult backgrounds, Precious learns to read and write and dares to like herself at last.
This film is brought to life by outstanding performances, particularly from first-time actor Sidibe. Comedian Mo’Nique provides a breathtaking performance as Precious’ mother, with good support from Paton and an unusual role for Mariah Carey as her social worker.
While there are moments of hope as we see Precious’ confidence building enough for her to finally stand up to her mother, the film does not skimp on violence and there are some very painful moments. A scene where Precious falls down the stairs holding her baby while her mother drops a TV on them is extremely difficult to watch. Another scene where Precious’ mother confesses that she knew about her boyfriend’s abuse of Precious as a child to Carey’s horrified social worker, who is clearly well out of her depth, is also painfully raw. And when we find out that Precious’ father was HIV positive, it’s almost too much to bear.
However it’s not all pain; the moments when we see Precious and her classmates messing around, writing fairy tales and teasing a male nurse (Lenny Kravitz) provide some comic relief. The girls all clearly have problems of their own – we wonder what their own stories might be like – but for Precious they offer undemanding friendship and a glimpse of normal teenaged life. As Precious begins to work out what she wants – to be a good mother to her two children, to learn to read and write and get a job beyond the inevitable minimum wage – we allow ourselves to hope that things are going to get better.
Based on the novel Push by Sapphire and executively produced by Oprah Winfrey, it sometimes feels that the film is pushing its message just a little bit too hard. However, overall it’s a powerful film which will have you leaving the cinema a little shell-shocked but generally better for the experience.
Verdict: Brave, heartbreaking and beautifully acted – a film that puts the pain of essay writing into perspective.
Four Stars
