Coming Up: Sammy’s War

Series eight, episode five
Always a staunch advocate of emerging talent, C4’s ‘Coming Up’ strand has so far proved flawed yet promising.

In this short film, directed by Andrea Harkin, vulnerable teenager Sammy is determined to keep her distracted war reporter mother safe at home. Lucy Cohu is convincing as a woman clearly itching to get away from the mundanity of domestic life and child rearing and back to the thrills of the front line; Jessica Lester gives a natural performance as a young woman who still desperately needs her mum; and Celia Imrie adds gravitas.

The pace falters a little in places, but overall it’s an affecting, watchable piece about three generations of women who love but are at odds with each other, and whose comfortable middle class lives are, indirectly, disrupted by another country’s troubles.