Though some reviewers have found this story implausible and unconvincing I have to say that for me its story of a woman who, after losing her daughter, is so distraught by grief and guilt that she jeopardises her other surviving daughter, largely worked. The poor decisions she makes seem a result of how consumed by mourning she is: I think you get a sense of how corrosive loss can be, and that inside she is blown apart. Personally, while it is true that certain aspects of the story seem left out or compressed, as a viewer I felt I could adequately fill them in. However, for a film that seems to want to be broadly sympathetic to immigrant labour, it could have fleshed the Bulgarian characters out more convincingly.
For me a large reason why it worked was because Catherine McCormack's central performance is committed and convincing. The girl playing her daughter is also good, though some of the other actors' performances in the film rather hamper it unfortunately. As a result some sections are laboured and stilted with poor dialogue. However, other things that made the film work for me were the evocative cinematography, which tried to capture the surrounding lanes and countryside, and the involving use of haunting music; all these made it for me a film worth watching.
For me a large reason why it worked was because Catherine McCormack's central performance is committed and convincing. The girl playing her daughter is also good, though some of the other actors' performances in the film rather hamper it unfortunately. As a result some sections are laboured and stilted with poor dialogue. However, other things that made the film work for me were the evocative cinematography, which tried to capture the surrounding lanes and countryside, and the involving use of haunting music; all these made it for me a film worth watching.