Based on Jo Brand's critically acclaimed novel of the same name, The More You Ignore Me is a warm, comedy drama focusing on the life of an unconventional family in 1980s rural England. The film focuses on Gina, a young mother, whose efforts to be a loving mother and wife are undermined by her declining mental health. Things deteriorate when she develops an obsession with the local weatherman, which leads to an admission to the nearby psychiatric hospital. Over the years, as she grows up, her daughter Alice struggles to relate to her heavily medicated mum, and causes chaos when she comes up with a plan to reconnect with her, which divides the family forever and leads to a moving climax. Set to the songs of The Smiths, The More You Ignore Me provides a sometimes stark, yet comical insight into life within this quirky household, whilst addressing mental health issues and their impact on the family.
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Reviews
Purely Joyful Movie!
Fantastic!
It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.
While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.
Thanks for your review Skint111. Sorry you didn't enjoy the movie that much. Maybe it just wasn't your kind of thing. However, I feel I must pick you up on a couple of points; firstly the 'sloppy' use of 'Tonight:Morrissey' is not a mistake. The one and only teeshirt tour was just after the band split and so was headlined as a 'Morrissey' gig rather than 'The Smiths' - Iook it up. We moved the gig from Wolverhampton to Blackpool for dramatic purposes.Secondly the 1970s and 1980s settings were all REAL PLACES with original decoration from that time. The main little house featured was deported almost entirely as it is seen in the film. It is not a set. Likewise the Wildgoose farm, and so on. I do not know if you are old enough to have lived through that era, but I, Jo Brand, the Production Designer and the DOP all are, and we tried to get it right, sorry if we failed in your eyes.TMYIM is an independent British Movie and, although we couldn't afford rights to a great deal of The Smiths tracks, I think you'll find we are the first movie to incorporate any The Smiths tracks in a film at all.The swearing thing is merely a matter of taste.Keith English
A teenage girl with a mentally ill mother finds some solace in the music of The Smiths.This low budget British film is an uncomfortable watch, a less than successful marriage of human tragedy and awkward comedy - that the swearing sticks out is in part proof its failure. But it's more the fact that not a single element of it is convincing, from the Seventies/Eighties setting to the behaviour of most of its characters (including two unlikely romances) to the girl and her mother's 'obsession' with The Smiths - it really doesn't help that they only got the rights to just two of their songs (This Charming Man and What Difference Does It Make?).(At this point in my original review I made an inaccurate claim about a scene in the film and the director has rightly taken me to task for it (see elsewhere on this page). I apologise for that and he is completely correct in what he says - as a huge Mozza fan I should have known!)Jo Brand wrote it, based on her novel, and has a small part as a shopkeeper.
My wife and I went to this on the opening night. We both love Jo Brand and have read the book, so we were a little worried that the film would not come up trumps. Well, we knocked for six by the film. Wonderful to look at, the performances were all stunning - especially Sheridan Smith, Mark Addy, Sally Phillips and it made us both laugh out loud one moment then have a tear in our eyes the next.The young lead, Ella Hunt, is a star in the making - what can I say?! Go see it. I had an aunt who suffered from mental health problems and it truly brought back the memories of her, good and bad.
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