Cruel fate of our lost care kids.

Byline: Steve Hendry

Samantha Morton's directorial debut about a young girl growing up in a children's home comes straight from the heart.

The Hollywood actress spent her own childhood in care and, while the film is not biographical, it gives an honest and intimate child's-eye view of the care system in the UK.

Filmed in Morton's hometown of Nottingham, the two young leads - Molly Windsor as Lucy and Lauren Socha as Lauren - were cast through open auditions held across schools, drama groups and at The Television Workshop, which Morton herself attended aged 12.

The result is a raw, bare-boned affair in which Scots star Robert Carlyle plays an abusive father who beats his daughter and Susan Lynch as a mother who doesn't want anything to do with her.

Putting a child through such harrowing scenes was difficult for Samantha, 32, who has starred in Minority Report and Morvern Callar and won Oscar nominations for her roles in Sweet and Lowdown and In America She said: "It was horrible to watch at times. I have worked very hard on being aware of my childhood by moving forward and not letting it get me down emotionally.

"But basically I believe film should always be personal."

CAPTION(S):

Molly Windsor tugs on the heart strings as Lucy