Pin Cushion

Deborah Haywood's 2017 British film is about a mother and daughter moving to a new town. Lyn and Iona are excessively attached to each other; they have built a language between them and appear to need nobody outside it. At school Iona tries to be accepted by the popular girls and pulls away from her mother in order to resemble them, while Lyn, left alone, attempts friendship with the neighbours and is humiliated every time. The film shows bullying among both children and adults and describes it working the same way in each. It places scenes Lyn imagines between the realistic passages; the colours and design are like a fairy tale while the events are hard. The ending offers no relief. Who it's for: viewers who can take British independent cinema and drama about bullying. Who it's not for: anyone who would rather not approach scenes of humiliation and a bleak close.