Mike Leigh closes (probably) his career with a great film about care and kindness

Special envoy to San SebastianWhat an exciting and deeply humanistic film has been released the British Mike Leigh to the official competition of the San Sebastian Festival. Tender loving care is one of the best works by the director of Secrets and lies (1996), a portrait of two women and the parents of one of them whom Leigh shows in all their imperfect beauty, without condescension or idealizations. In previous films such as Naked (1993)and Hard truths (2024) this has resulted in rawness and harshness, but in this case, tenderness dominates. Like another of the great titles of this season, Suddenly(Suddenly, in the original French), by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Tender loving care is above all a film about the importance of taking care of each other, but also about the limits of this love.

Kate O’Flynn, who already worked with Leigh on the magnificent Happy (2008) and has just won an Emmy for Widow’s bay, played by Amy, a seasoned social worker who has just been dumped by her boyfriend and moves into the house of her best friend, Rosie –also a social worker–, while she gathers the courage to tell her parents about the breakup, an affectionate couple who suffer through her sentimental ups and downs. There is something revolutionary in the fact that Tender loving care is basically a portrait of good people. Parents who care for their daughter and think of ways to help her, and two friends who have always supported each other, especially when times are tough. And also good professionals, very aware of the limitations of the system they represent but who do not let themselves be overcome by cynicism or disenchantment. We see this in the work interactions they have throughout the film with various people, whom they strive to help with empathy and understanding.

There are not many directors like Leigh, who portray the working class in such a direct and honest way, without any kind of paternalism. That is why it is doubly sad that Tender loving care is, in all likelihood, the last film that Leigh will direct, having been diagnosed with myositis. “I have an illness that affects my muscles and makes movement difficult, more so than is convenient for a filmmaker,” explained the director, who participated in the press conference for his film from home via a video call. “Therefore, it is more than likely that this will be my last film. It is what it is.”

Knowing this, it is very moving to see how Leigh closes the film. First, with the elegant movement of a camera that leaves a room and leaves the characters behind, assuming the impossibility of continuing to accompany them. And then, with a close-up of the character who opened the film, with a deep, abyssal gaze. Is it Leigh himself, looking at us? Perhaps it is better not to ask. In any case, what a great opportunity the jury presided over by Ira Sachs now has to award the Golden Shell to a great film by a great filmmaker who, in a difficult personal moment, has preferred to toast to love, solidarity, and friendship. “We do not stop being human because we live in darker times,” he recalled. “Obviously, I hope people don't think this film is a work of romantic escapism, because it is not. It is a hard look at reality, but it is a story about compassion. And compassion is still important.”