“Heartbreaking yet hopeful”: Jess Asato reviews ‘LOLLIPOP’

Molly Brown (Posy Sterling) with her children Ava (Tegan-Mia Stanley Rhoads) and Leo (Luke Howitt)

4 min read4 hr

Directed and written by filmmaker Daisy-May Hudson, Lollipop follows Molly, a young woman who has recently served four months in prison and had her two children placed in care.

This heartbreaking yet hopeful film sheds light on the catch-22 women face after incarceration. Molly (Posy Sterling) has no money, is deemed as having made herself intentionally homeless, and faces huge barriers convincing children’s social care she can safely care for her children. Yet the housing system won’t let her apply for a home that would accommodate her family because she’s classed as a single woman while her children are in care. Molly is told bluntly: “We can’t send them home with you if you don’t have a home to go to.” She can’t get a home without her children – and can’t get her children back without a home.

While foster carers are fantastic in many instances, we know that the outcomes of children removed from their birth families remain unequal. Whether that’s poorer GSCE results, mental health, homelessness or lack of employment, the risks of reuniting a child with their mother after prison must be balanced with the trauma which results in removal. As Molly says, “You think it’s fair… that I can’t look after my children because I’ve got no money and then you’re going to go and pay someone else to look after them for me. So, riddle me that one.”

Molly is constantly told she has to be held accountable for the issues she faces: homelessness, going to prison, domestic abuse and poor mental health. But the perpetrator of the domestic abuse is unseen, which so often happens – Molly, a victim, is punished for her own abuse. Countering the accusation that her children are suffering, she says: “I’ve done my time, OK? You can’t punish me for the rest of my life.” The system, lacking compassion and common sense, fails to recognise the impact on the children who wish to live with their mother. You end up wanting to shout, “Just do the right thing!”

Molly, a victim, is punished for her own abuse

But Molly’s love for her children and the support of an amazing friend Amina (Idil Ahmed) keeps her going. Even then, there is no therapy available for Molly before her family court hearing. How can we demand that women who have lived through so much trauma address it when we can’t even provide them with the tools to do so?

The government’s introduction of a presumption to suspend short custodial sentences of 12 months or less, unless an offender has breached a court order, will overwhelmingly benefit women. Of women who serve custodial sentences, 16 per cent serve less than 12 months, compared to four per cent of men. Sentences should be suspended for all pregnant women, and housing options should be made available where women leaving prison could be safely reunited with their children.

The film’s depiction of the reality faced by women fighting to keep their heads above water after being released from prison has already won an award for the performance of its lead actor Posy Sterling. Her portrayal of Molly has now also been nominated for a rising star award at the Baftas this February.

I was honoured to host a screening of Lollipop in Parliament recently in partnership with Birth Companions, a wonderful charity which works with mothers facing disadvantage. The lived experience advisers on the panel said this film had finally made them feel heard – now we must change the system so it hears them as well.

Jess Asato is Labour MP for Lowestoft

LOLLIPOP

Written & directed by: Daisy-May Hudson

Broadcaster: BBC iPlayer