To Leslie

A young mother wins and then squanders a lottery win, losing herself to alcoholism and her family to the aftermath. The film charts her journey to redemption.

I think it's rare to see performances like this one. Yes there's oscar winners every year, but they tend to be for formulaic roles and popular roles, rather than for technical merit as an actor.

In To Leslie Riseborough reminds us what acting really is. You don't see an actor playing the role of a recovering alcoholic, you see a recovering alcoholic. She breathes life into the role and every nuanced move, glance, pursing of lips, scrunching of eyes, movement of body is the epitome of a woman in torment. Her delivery is perfect.

I was shocked to see her so thin which lent authenticity to the role, but she had me right from the opening scene right the way through to the very last scene where she held nothing back. She gave everything to her part.

It reminded me of Jessica Chastain in The Eyes of Tammy Faye. Total immersion into the role where the pretended morphed into the real and you forgot it was acting.

To Leslie was flawlessly directed and Riseborough benefited from a strong cast. Janney was her usual excellent self, but there was not one weak character in the film.

Absolutely spellbinding and I give this a very rare 8.