In another time, societal disparity from the pandemic, cost of living crisis and austerity would have ushered in a whole wave of Loach-ian dramas – if aspiring filmmakers hadn’t been spaced out of the industry by collapsing paths to access of course. Thankfully some manage to break through – or in the case of Eve Leonard-Walsh, make their own path to bringing important stories like Because We Are Too Many to the screen.
If this review feels a little political, know that it is impossible not to be when assessing a story of a single mother of an autistic child left with nowhere to go by a depressed, resource-starved support system. Inspired by the director’s own experiences, Morgan (Leonard-Walsh) desperately tries to find support for her son Ronan (Ronin Leonard-Walsh) during the pandemic. Reflecting on her life as a 16-year-old (played by Hope Hill), she confronts painful memories with her brother Andy (Anthony Bradley) and a secret friendship with Mo (Henry Hilson-Agbangbe), an immigrant boy who has run away from home.
It’s hard not to be moved by a story as personal as Because We Are Too Many. Eve Leonard-Walsh’s experiences with the care system in Glasgow resonate throughout the film’s narrative, and intertwining this with recurring poverty cycles is a powerful demonstration of how the system fails so many across the country. Jumping back and forth between Morgan’s reflections on her younger life and her own parents as an adult and parent herself create a kinetic re-evaluation in real-time for the viewer – a powerful and difficult experience to bring to life but one that can gutturally tap into one’s deepest lived moments.
Morgan’s relationship with Mo – a non-verbal immigrant boy living under a bridge in her childhood – echoes throughout her life. Her desire to escape her own struggling family, the difficulties her own son experiences, and the unintended consequences that come from her attempts to help him all weigh on Morgan in adulthood, where she carries unwarranted responsibility for events that others bare far more accountability for. These slow traumas come to explain the person Morgan has come to be as a parent, a pain that emanates from her own disrupted childhood.
Eve-Leonard Walsh seamlessly translates moments from her own life as a carer to her performance. The ability to persevere in the difficult moments raising her son are written over the characters face, but it is the injustice of the care system where her anger and frustration becomes clear. An early scene in a benefits office portrays the helplessness of an entire life in the face of a slow-moving bureaucratic organization that is itself helpless in the face of its task due to powers above, and Morgan’s growing incredulity is touching to anyone who has faced similar circumstances. Hope Hill is similarly magnificent as the younger Morgan, growing ever more aware of the odds stacked against her. It is the subtleties and gentleness that demonstrate the nature of her relationship with Mo, a pivotal throughline for the film that comes to be definitive of the character as a whole.
It’s hard to imagine Because We Are Too Many being made by anyone without the types of experiences Eve Leonard-Walsh has. The evisceration of the ‘support’ system, the precision of how poverty defines individuals and the gloom that it casts are all laid bare in incredible detail. It’s a wonderful, thoughtful film made with clear passion at its heart, and one that demonstrates the importance of authentic marginalised voices – particularly those from carers.