Adrian Scarborough, Alex Kelly, Daniel Mays

Vera Drake is a selfless woman who is completely devoted to, and loved by, her working class family. She spends her days doting on them and caring for her sick neighbor and elderly mother. However, sh...( read more  read more... )e also secretly visits women and helps them induce miscarriages for unwanted pregnancies. While the practice itself was illegal in 1950s England, Vera sees herself as simply helping women in need, and always does so with a smile and kind words of encouragement. When the authorities finally find her out, Vera's world and family life rapidly unravel.

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83% liked it

8,365 ratings

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92% liked it

153 critics

R, 2 hrs. 5 min.

Directed by: Mike Leigh

Release Date: October 10, 2004

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DVD Release Date: March 29, 2005

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Flixster Reviews (641)


  • September 29, 2009
    Mike Leigh back on form! Great film with superb acting!
  • January 2, 2009
    Directed by: Mike Leigh.
    Starring: Imelda Staunton, Eddie Marsan, Philip Davis.

    << "I help girls out." >>

    To say that this film is 'entertainment' would be a terrible thing to say, due to the subject matter of the film, but no one can deny tha...( read more)t it is an outstanding and very powerful piece of filmmaking.

    From director and writer Mike Leigh, he has bought forward a very disturbing and controversial topic, abortion. The story follows a woman, Vera Drake, a domestic helper in her community with a heart of gold who does selfless deeds to help people around her.

    I will definitely not go into details about the story, as it is something you truly have to see and judge for yourself, but the screenplay is outstanding. It is injected with a sense of humanity and examines and explores the disturbing topic of abortion and the attitudes towards it in society. Not only that, but the screenplay is skillfully plotted and very deep. It carefully introduces us to Vera Drake and with the help of Imelda's performance, we really care for her and learn to hate her at the same time. We are also introduced brilliantly to her loving family and we understand there feelings throughout the entire film....all the way through the hauntingly emotional final hour.

    The acting is that of a higher class, although everyone gives great performances on many different levels, the star of the show is Imelda Staunton, who delivers an astonishing and masterful performance. She injects life into her character and makes us love her instantly and when the emotion hits, her face is the canvas and it carries a lot of the emotion of the film, she is an absolutely outstanding actress.

    The film is full of great British humor, powerful drama and emotion and it pulls you in from the very first scene and never lets you go until the credits roll (and even then, it will stay with you). As a word of warning, you will not leave this film with an uplifted mood, it will leave you somber and in tears, but you would have just experienced a very powerful masterpiece.

    87/100

    << "It ain't fair. Me mum brought up six of us in two rooms. If you can't feed 'em, you can't love 'em, now can you?" >>

  • December 13, 2008
    In the developing moments of the film, Vera Drake (Imelda Staunton) seems implausibly cheerful - it's as if a cartoon has sprung to life. She's a charming old lady who'll pour you tea and genuinely care about the slightest thing that may be bugging you. Making a living as a clean...( read more)ing woman, she comes home to support her son, daughter, and husband with a bright smile on her face. However, there's one thing that separates her from the rest of the crowd of the eccentric happy-go-lucky cleaning ladies - she performs abortions on the side.

    That's the set up for Mike Leigh's highly praised "Vera Drake", which was nominated for three Oscars in 2005 (most notably Best Actress). I'm new to Leigh's work, having only been exposed to this year's smashing cult success "Happy-Go-Lucky", but it's impossible to deny the craftsmanship of such an inventive writer/director. His films are essentially written by the cast themselves, with improv sessions rehearsed weeks in advance before shooting. This creates living, breathing environments where people talk like people actually talk, and every relationship and moment is genuine. These are films about characters, and their plots are just captivating enough to hold your interest but simple enough to never get in the way of legitimate development and intrigue. While it takes a certain kind of audience to embrace such a slow-paced and quiet drama like "Vera Drake", it's absolutely worth atleast giving it a shot.

    In the film, Vera is an abortionist in England post World War II. She gets her clients (mostly helpless young women) through a friend, Lily (Ruth Sheen), who works in the black market and also sells Vera her sugar. Although Vera believes she is performing her procedures free of charge, one of the most crushing blows in the movie is when she finally finds out that Lily has been charging the women. However, the fact that Lily charges two pounds comes to be an important statement made in the film. Through a contrasting storyline with a young woman, Susan ("Happy-Go-Lucky"'s Sally Hawkins), we see the ease of abortion when you're rich. She's dealing with top notch psychiatrists and doctors, however she's spending one hundred pounds. The movie never argues whether abortion is right or wrong, rather it points out how inaccessible it is to those of a lower class.

    My favorite of the supporting characters was Reg (Eddie Marson), a lonely bachelor who Vera gleefully takes in. He eventually gets involved with Vera's daughter, the equally awkward Ethel (Alex Kell), and they announce their engagement halfway through the film. It's here, however, when the cops come to take Vera away. One of her patients had been in critical condition because of her abortion (the only to her knowledge that's gone wrong), and now she's in serious trouble.

    The last half of the film is devastating to watch. As the Detective (Peter Wight) questions Vera, he grows to love Vera just as much as we have - however, the law is the law and he has to do his job. That's part of what makes the movie so genuine. There's not really a "bad guy", rather, the only evil is the actual abortion law itself. Throughout the entire last hour of the film, Imelda Staunton delivers one of the most memorable and heartbreaking performances you've ever seen. She's a completely shattered woman - she never thought of "abortions" to be wrong (she doesn't even call them abortions), and now she's being prosecuted for doing so. This whole time, her intentions have always simply been helping people.

    If I had to nitpick anything about "Vera Drake", it would be that the last half does begin to drag a bit. Perhaps, however, it's not the film's fault - rather it's so emotionally exhausting that I was begging for a mercy killing. The film made me absolutely miserable, however that misery was replaced when glee after it was over and I realized what a marvelous film i'd just witnessed. You won't find an ensemble cast much better than this one, nor will you find many more deeply-affecting films. This is absolutely something you should seek out.
  • August 16, 2007
    Was very contraversial and shocking yet i feel sorry for her poor woman!
  • May 20, 2007
    better than mike leighs secrets and lies but only slightly. the cast do a good job of making it that lil' bit more believable. i thought imelda staunton did a great job of playing a "helper" and someone who's life was falling apart. infact it was very dramatic until it started to...( read more) peter out towards the end... i know there was no script written for this movie but c'mon... say something
  • November 6, 2009
    This is a brilliant film! The gritty post-war feel of the film is perfect and the differences between the rich and poor is well depicted. Vera Drake is played superbly by Imelda Staunton and should have won more awards than she received for the role. She is also well supported by...( read more) Davis and Mays and the sub-plot of the daughter finding romance is sweet and beautifully played. British film-making at its best.
  • October 27, 2009
    Mike Leigh's second masterpiece is definitely a must-see for anyone who has any fears about the future of filmmaking. They need to see this to remind themselves that films are getting better as well as getting worse. This is the perfect example of filmmaking that works.
  • October 18, 2009
    A solid and powerful performance from Imelda Staunton, she deserves the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at Venice Film Festival, an Oscar nod and a Golden Globe nod. She is Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter series, no wonder so familiar.

    Again, the dilemma here is about ethics.

    Speci...( read more)al appearance by Academy Award winner Jim Broadbent as the Judge.

    Rated 4 stars by Roger Ebert.

    Nominated for 3 Oscars: Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Actress. Won Golden Lion at Venice Film Festival.

    imdb.com trivias:

    # Except for Imelda Staunton, none of the actors knew that the film was about abortion until their characters find out. Each actors only knew what concerned their characters.

    # All actors were forbidden to even tell their family what they were doing, what the film was about during filming.

    # The budget was so tight that a week of filming had to be cancelled.

    # Filmed with no script, the film went on to be nominated for Best Original Screenplay for 2005 Oscar. Mike Leigh said that he "had to prepare the screenplay so it can be sent out to academy members. But actually the screenplay that was nominated doesn't exist. The film is the screenplay."

    # Mike Leigh asked the actors to hum in the movie. Because they couldn't afford to buy rights to songs, the actors had to hum something generic.

    # Submitted for the 2004 Cannes Film Festival but was denied.

    # The entire basic script was improvised.
  • September 20, 2009
    This is a film about Imelda Staunton's face.
  • September 18, 2009
    Although controversial, still a moving and great British film which will have an impact on you no matter what.

    79/100

Critic Reviews


May 4, 2005
Nick Schager, Lessons of Darkness

Puts a tender human face on this explosive subject. full review

October 22, 2004
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

Leigh thinks his movie is a social commentary, but it's really an almost-brilliant character study, with an essential piece left out: the moment Vera is revealed to herself. full review

October 22, 2004
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

A film of pitch-perfect, seemingly effortless performances. full review

October 22, 2004
Ty Burr, Boston Globe

Heartbreaking. full review

October 21, 2004
Colin Covert, The Minneapolis Star Tribune

We often praise actors for putting themselves inside the skins and souls of others, but it's a rare performer who becomes a character so uncannily and convincingly that she seems to vanish into the role. full review

October 11, 2004
David Edelstein, Slate

Leigh and Staunton seem like prisoners of their own plodding naturalism. full review

October 10, 2004
Marcy Dermansky, About.com

Kind and reassuring, Vera Drake must be the most grandmotherly illegal abortionist ever known to mankind. full review

October 8, 2004
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

Using Staunton's face as his canvas, Leigh crafts a powerfully moving film that is unmissable and unforgettable. full review

View more Vera Drake reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

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