In this deeply affecting portrait of ordinary courage in present-day South Africa, a single mother Shirley Adams struggles to care for her paraplegic teenage son, Donovan, in a depressed district on the outskirts of Cape Town.
Wearied but resolute, she desperately clings to him as he withdraws from the world following a suicide attempt, and is hopeful when his spirits are momentarily lifted by the appearance of Tamsin, a pretty but over-eager social worker.
But when the relationship between Donovan and Tamsin sours, his fragile emotional health declines, and Shirley's faith and perseverance are put to the ultimate test. First-time director Oliver Hermanus's observant camera holds close to its subjects, capturing the claustrophobia, intimacy and hushed anguish surrounding the tender daily routines of a mother and her child.