Military Wives

Peter Cattaneo's film is about a choir formed by women whose partners have been deployed to Afghanistan. Kate, played by Kristin Scott Thomas, is a colonel's wife who does everything by the book; Lisa, played by Sharon Horgan, is disorganised, loose and indifferent to rules. Their fight over the choir's repertoire is really a fight about how to survive waiting. The best thing the film understands is that the choir is not a consolation but a way of passing time. The women gather not because they love singing but because there is nothing else to do except wait for a knock at the door. The story is real. The Military Wives Choirs network began in 2010 at the Royal Marines base at Chivenor and now numbers seventy-five choirs across British bases at home and abroad. The choirmaster Gareth Malone and choir member Samantha Stevenson appear as themselves. It screened in Toronto in 2019 and opened in the United Kingdom on 6 March 2020. Who it is for: viewers who like British popular comedy and stories about communities. Who it is not for: anyone wanting a narrative that leaves the template, since the director of The Full Monty takes the road he knows.