Lollipop Film Review — a Single Mother vs the Social Services System

Daisy-May Hudson on how being homeless inspired her furious new film Lollipop

The 32-year-old writer-director’s latest project is a damning indictment of Britain’s housing and social-care systems. She tells Ellie Harrison how it was informed by her own experiences, and how she wants the film to strip away shame for those who fall through the cracks

Lollipop Review – 'An emotional wrecking ball'

In the UK, working-class cinema has been enjoying a renaissance, from Rocks to indie goldies like Scrapper, Pretty Red Dress and Girl. Mike Leigh is firmly back with Hard Truths and Harris Dickinson’s Urchin has freshly premiered in Cannes. Like the latter, Daisy-May Hudson’s debut fiction feature film Lollipop is about homelessness, and — courtesy of its discerning, heartrending script — anchored deep in the young writer-director’s own experien…

Lollipop movie review | Britain's broken social care system laid bare in Daisy-May Hudson's urgent debut

Partly drawing on her own experiences as a young adult growing up in homeless accommodation, with Lollipop (2024) director Daisy-May Hudson has crafted an engaged family drama that also serves as a wrenching critique of Britain’s social care system. Released from prison, and no longer entitled to council accommodation, Molly (Posy Sterling) attempts to regain custody of her two children, who have been living in foster care during her time behind…