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Kate O’Flynn is the belle of the ball in 2026 after winning an Emmy for Apple TV’s “Twin Peaks”-esque small-town mystery series “Widow’s Bay.” But even those fans of her socially clumsy and feverishly party-planning mayor’s assistant Patricia on that series may not be prepared for her soulful, wrenching work in Mike Leigh’s latest film. “Tender Loving Care,” opening in select theaters December 11, may also be the 83-year-old director’s last one due to age. Watch the trailer below.
In this latest film from the British director of “Secrets and Lies,” “Vera Drake,” “Naked,” and “Hard Truths” — all movies where, like this one, he starts without a script and works instead on building the story and characters with his actors — O’Flynn is joined by Alice Bailey Johnson, Marion Bailey, and Paul Jesson. O’Flynn plays government child protection worker Amy, reeling from a breakup, who moves back in with her best friend from childhood, the upbeat social worker Rosie (Bailey Johnson). Amy’s parents (Bailey and Jesson) are meanwhile dealing with aging, which leads to a heartbreaking final crisis.
“Tender Loving Care” played Telluride, Toronto International Film Festival, San Sebastian, New York Film Festival, London Film Festival, and more, all to strong response. Bleecker Street will open the movie in New York and Los Angeles on December 11, followed by an expansion beginning December 25. Most recently, “Tender Loving Care” received four Gotham Award nominations, including International Feature, Director, Original Screenplay, and Outstanding Supporting Performance (O’Flynn). O’Flynn previously had very small roles in Leigh films including “Happy-Go-Lucky,” “Mr. Turner,” and “Peterloo.”
From IndieWire’s review: “Said to be Mike Leigh’s final film, the simple but profoundly affecting ‘Tender Loving Care’ confronts the dominant theme of his career — the practice and value of communal support in the face of an unforgiving world — with the directness of a closing statement. Here, in an exquisitely rendered microportrait about a week in the lives of two sparkling London social workers, Leigh gets right to the heart of the matter. The result is one of his most formidable stories in spite of its scope; spartan and straightforward, absent plot complication but awash in pointillistic detail, this so-called swan song collects its attention into a bracingly humane look at conflicting networks of care. It exalts in what love and tenderness can do for a person, and just as honestly pays heed to what they can’t.”
The trailer is below.
