Homelessness could happen to anyone, they say. You’re only two pay cheques from the street. These things never felt more true than watching this documentary narrated by Colin Firth. Its director Lorna Tucker has her own story of homelessness: when she was 15, she ran away from home and ended up in London on the streets. There’s old home movie footage of her as a little girl; how did this sunny seven-year-old eating Hula Hoops from her fingers end up sleeping rough, addicted to heroin, just a few years later?
Tucker tells her story; she is honest and open, allowing herself to be extremely vulnerable, and interviews other people who’ve experienced homelessness. There’s Earl Charlton in the north-east, who was on and off the streets for 18 years; he’s now a caseworker for a homeless charity. Charlton breaks down remembering his first day at work – starting a new life that must have previously seemed impossible. In London, Tucker speaks to homeless women in daily danger of violence and abuse. The thread running through their stories is childhood trauma – growing up with domestic violence, neglect, alcohol or substance misuse.
