Daddy's Little Girls

A family drama set in Atlanta. Monty works at a garage. He lives with his three daughters; he takes them to school in the morning, collects them in the evening and has built his routine around it. His former wife wants the children back. The man she is with deals drugs in the neighbourhood and the house is no place for them. The court gives custody to the mother. Monty has a conviction in his past and no money for a lawyer. At the same time he finds work: he will drive for a lawyer. Julia is successful, hard-working and has no private life. A relationship begins between them and Julia takes on the case. What the film is interested in is not the court but the difference of class: neither side knows the other's world, and that difference sits inside both the relationship and the case. The state of the neighbourhood is the second line; the neighbours stay quiet and nobody will testify. Idris Elba plays Monty and Gabrielle Union plays Julia. Louis Gossett Jr. is in the cast. Tyler Perry directed and wrote it. A suitable choice for anyone who likes American family drama and custody narratives. For a viewer expecting a measured register, the film makes the other side entirely bad and raises the emotional dose in its last section. Who it is for: anyone who likes drama that works class and family together. Who it is not for: anyone looking for grey characters; the narrative decides its sides early.