Care (2018) Reviews

• Shocking but good viewing

  matrix110012018-12-11

  This is a film about a woman who has a stroke whilst driving with her grandchildren in the car and the after effects of her sudden illness and subsequent treatment/care afterwards. The lady in question has a close nit family, was in good health, fully independent when all of a sudden she has a stoke and her life changes drastically in that moment. Suddenly she can't communicate, becomes aggressive and hard to manage. This is in drastic contrast to what she was before the stroke. This film is about how her two children react to their mum's diagnosis, in the case of Sheridan Smith's character trying to take her mum's care on at home (both before she the home was ready and after), as well as her mum's experiences in the hospital (not much was shown and could have showed more) as well as temporary care, the challenges her and the care homes face. Small spoiler - when her mum goes missing from the care home we do have one of the carers trying to explain why it happened (basically short staffed homes, not enough people to care for high dependency patients and the other challenges care homes face - I would have liked to have seen more on this as well as the fall out from her mother being able to walk out within hours of arriving at the home). Overall (with having personal experience in this field (care) I find it fairly accurate. Quite sad really to see how it affects not just the lady in question, but the family and going through the process with them to get the standard and quality of care their mum desperately needs. It shows how much at times how much it takes to fight to get the care needed, having to go through the system to get funding for care, etc. It's hard to work out the timeline for when it all occurs and how long it takes to action the package of care, length of time spent in hospital and the appeal time. This would have been useful to highlight - which would give people better understanding of the process. That is my only criticism - there should have been on screen notifications such as two weeks later... and so forth to give people idea of the passage of time, whereas it seems a continuous process whereas in the real world things take time to action. It also would have been interesting for them to have used a first person view of what it is like for her mum - see the world from from her point of view - or in the very least have a stroke survivor create a small video explaining how things changed for them to try to understand how it affects them directly. Overall a good and solid performance from most of the characters (the children's father's side story took away a bit from the main story line and was unnecessary). Watching it in one go from start to finish you get to see the frustrations, not just from their mother but from the changes her conditions bring and the extra pressures on her extended family now have as a result of her stroke. It's quite sad to see how much a previously independent woman changes so much for the worse after a stroke and how it affects her, as well as the frustrations of having to deal with an underfunded and understaffed NHS/care home,to dealing with the mental health changes of someone who has had a stroke. The way the story was filmed you feel part of the journey from before the stroke to when she finally gets a home she needs. Highly recommended series with great acting.

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• No no no, and it could have been so good.

  vicky-515232018-12-10

  Beautifully acted, Alison Steadman's portrayal of a dementia sufferer was faultless to the smallest detail - the small mewling noises she made to express herself broke my heart every time, gosh I know those... and Sheridan Smiths role was played equally well, you could feel her inner guilt when she coped less than perfectly, beautifully understated. I made myself sit through this knowing how deeply it could affect me thinking it may be healthy for me to revisit, to open those dark cupboards you stuff full of the pain you go through being a carer for a parent with dementia, and for a while it was every bit as good as I would expect from Jimmy McGovern and this cast. Then towards the end it fell flat on its face. The viewer is outrageously cheated with a happy ending when there ARE no happy endings with parental care because you don't just find the perfect care home like that, and the shoddy care homes are not revealed on the first day your parent moves in - they just aren't, and the staff don't suddenly come clean with you in reality, mistakes are hidden and remain hidden.. and - most outrageously of all - you don't find a sudden untapped source of financial support so you can put your loved one in the care home from heaven. The story just broke and then the realism became absurd and misplaced. What a shame, this could have been absolute dynamite, but instead it feels like the greatest cop out I've ever seen from a drama with such a distinguished pedigree. I cant mark it as low as I feel it deserves in respect of the two main actors who did a grand job with what they had, but I feel like I've been sidelined, robbed and cheated, and so will all the many struggling family carers who go through to the bitter end. This drama portrays the 1% lottery winners. It tries to be real but it fails miserably, the handsome Prince comes along and sweeps Cinderella off her feet. We aren't children and this subject matter shouldn't be served up like a fairy story, its just plain wrong. Steadman and Smith's performances are wasted and in my opinion lead you to invest more than you really should.

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• Highlights the many failings caused by Tory Faux Austerity

  eddie-earl-99-5216752018-12-10

  Having just spent half of the last month in the excellent Princess Royal Hospital, which serves the London Borough of Bromley I was in a position to witness their inability, due to funding inadequacies, to fully cater for the needs of geriatric patients. Luckily at the age of 66 I was considered worth saving but I was left wondering how I would have been cared for if I had been five years older. British voters need to realise that this is a snapshot of the current regime that is running our NHS into the ground. Well done to the BBC.

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• Heartbreakingly strong performances

  u-105832019-01-06

  Exceptional performances from everybody. Every single scene is heartbreaking to watch. One of th best TV Dramas I've ever seen.

• Incredible acting

  tecs-569-9952102019-01-01

  Two incredible actresses with a heart wrenching and compassionate script which they deliver brilliantly. I cried throughout and felt the pain Sheridan Smith portrayed. Superb drama from the BBC.