Earth Mama

Gia (Tia Nomore) is a hard-working mother of two and expecting another baby. But that hard work doesn’t look to cut much ice with the social service who have taken her son and daughter into foster care. While the younger boy is all cuddles, her daughter is distant during Gia’s visits.

This runs abrasively with her job at a photo shop where see’s arranging clients’ perfect portraits, and in which she displays some creative judgement when setting up. She’s supported by friend Trina (Doechii) though they are not above a scrap, with her religious beliefs starting to come more to the fore.

However Gia’s main advocate is her caseworker Miss Carmen (Erika Alexander), though again there’s a techy relationship when the matter of the new baby and its long-term welfare. Gia’s earlier drug abuse (the reason her children are in care) hangs over her and the reality of her situation is poignantly exposed when she meets the family that are looking to adopt her unborn.

Savanah Leaf’s debut as a feature director – from an earlier short film - is a subtle though no nonsense dissection of America's social service system as Gia battles with the bureaucracy – the seemingly endless tasks that are requested by the courts to prove her fitness as a mother – compounded by her persistent money problems.

Nomore in her film debut is very confident with a character that is flawed though desperate to do what is required to get her children back and move forward. The crunch meeting with the prospective adoptive family is crushing. In particular the daughter in whom she could see herself had she had the breaks.

What runs through the film is that everyone is looking to do their best for the children and Gia however clumsy it looks. The social services need to ensure the children are safe, within a system of seemingly ever-increasing complexity. Carmen is presenting options that however unpalatable they appear to Gia’s friends are well intended, though they look heartless.

Gia caught in the middle struggles on. Her decisions based on her instinct rather than a logical breakdown of the evidence before her. The choices available border on the impossible for which your heart goes to her.

Earth Mama is released in UK cinemas on 8 December 2023.