Another Mother's Son

Inspired by a true-life story, this historical drama recounts one ordinary woman's courage during the Nazi occupation of Jersey. Like many of her compatriots, local grocer Louisa Gould (Jenny Seagrove) at first merely keeps her head down, but when the invaders' cruel treatment of their PoW labourers comes to light, she agrees to harbour a young Russian escapee (Julian Rostov). As the two develop an almost filial bond, it's clear that her actions represent the values of kindness and decency that the whole of Britain is fighting the war to uphold. Solid performances notwithstanding (even if Ronan Keating is rather tested in the dramatic scenes as Seagrove's brother), the film's ambitions unfortunately don't stretch much further than mild-mannered Sunday evening TV fare. Ultimately, though, this is a story absolutely worth telling, the closing captions leaving us in no doubt about the heroism of average Channel Islanders during those darkest of hours.