Lifetime
Lifetime goes in a different direction with its latest original movie, eschewing the exploitative ‘Ripped from the Headlines” movies while tackling a subject that impacts people in their real lives every day — homelessness. While this story is fictional, it all feels very real.
Give Me Back My Daughter stars Gabourey Sidibe as Renee, mother to young daughter Imani (Cadence Reese), a woman with a successful career and an apartment that has been the only home Imani knows. Renee’s husband passed away some time earlier but she has been a loving, caring mother to her daughter, always providing for her every need. That is until she gets the devastating news that her employer is cutting back, and despite her stellar record, coming in early and staying late, she is one of the first to be laid off. It’s a small setback, at first, but even with a degree she finds it hard to find a new job, and her chances at one employer are derailed when she has no choice but to bring Imani to the interview with her. After three months, Renee finds herself and Imani evicted from their home, forced to sleep in their car (while dodging police), ‘bathing’ in gas station rest rooms, lucky to get a meal at the local diner where she’s been a regular, having a good relationship with the owner, Jeff, and his son, Curtis. Renee gets an interview for a job with a real estate firm and nails it, hired on the spot, but she didn’t have a sitter for Imani and instead of risking the job by bringing her in, she left the girl in the car for over an hour. Unfortunately, some Karen sees the girl and calls the police, and when Renee leaves the interview, breathing a sigh of relief that she got the job, it all falls apart when she sees the police take Imani and she is thrown against the car and handcuffed. Renee learns at a court hearing that Imani will be placed in foster care until she can meet the judge’s criteria to get her back, including getting a job and a permanent home, while also attending parenting classes.
Renee is not happy about losing her daughter, but is assured that she will be with a good family who has taken in other children (but not Black children, which ruffles Renee’s feathers as they don’t know how to do a Black child’s hair properly). At one of her classes, Renee befriends Kelly and the two bond over their situations. Kelly learns that Renee also does hair, having had a salon that she gave up when her husband took ill. She gets Renee to do her hair and then takes her to a salon the next day to get her a job. The salon just happens to be owned by Kelly’s mother Tiana, and the two have a fractious relationship to say the least, and Tiana isn’t keen on her daughter bringing someone into her salon to beg for a job, especially one that doesn’t have a license. But she gives Renee a shot, and is impressed enough to let her come on as long as she reapplies for her license. Renee also reveals to Jeff that she needs another source of income and asks for a job at the diner. He doesn’t know why she would want to work there, but when she shows him her car, he understands and gives her a job. She flourishes, helping soothe customers’ anger after Curtis was less than professional, and asking Jeff to give her more responsibilities. She gets visitations with Imani, but it begins to seem like Imani prefers her new family, even telling her mother she’d rather stay with them and refusing to come to the phone when Renee calls. Things go from bad to worse when Renee’s car is broken into, with almost everything including the battery stolen. This will either break her spirit totally or make her even more determined to get her life back on track and get her daughter back. But can she succeed?
Give Me Back My Daughter is … a terrible title, completely cheapening the real-world drama of the story. It’s sensationalistic for no reason. It makes you think the daughter was kidnapped and the mom has to go on a mission to get her back from her captors. It’s just a ridiculous title. Whoever decided on that should be reprimanded. If it was screenwriter Xavier Brugin’s idea, then someone should have suggested something less over-the-top, because the script is handled with great sensitivity. Nothing in Renee’s situation is exploited. The story also feels real as it is constructed over nearly a year’s time — and they even helpfully show us from time to time how many days have passed which was a welcome touch — so nothing in Renee’s life over that year feels rushed. All of the characters are well-developed, and Renee’s motherly instincts kick in when it’s clear Curtis needs the attention Jeff isn’t giving him. She intervenes and helps that relationship while trying to repair her own life. Everything balances well. There are a few minor quibbles with the relationship between Kelly and Tiana that goes from rocky to familial rather quickly, and there is a weird are they or aren’t they forming a romance between Renee and Jeff, especially in a moment when she gets a new apartment (with his help) and their hands touch while she takes the keys from him. This isn’t a Hallmark movie so there was no need to shoehorn in a romantic sub-sub-plot. There’s also some unnecessarily uncomfortable moments in the way the Pattersons are portrayed that almost seem like it is they who are going to steal Imani away, or that Mr. Patterson — who we only see in a few shots that make him look a bit creepy — might be abusing the children (thankfully this is not the case but writer Xavier Burgin and director Kelley Kali really want you to think it is perhaps to justify the terrible title). Other than that, the writing is solid and the direction doesn’t do anything flashy to detract from the story.
The film is headed by Oscar and Golden Globe nominee Gabourey Sidibe, giving a very natural performance as Renee. She never devolves the character into histrionics — with the title you almost expect her to start yelling ‘Give me back my daughter’ in the courtroom — making Renee very relatable, as someone who could be your next door neighbor. She doesn’t allow the character to become one who demands pity or who blames other for her situation. She takes what she’s been dealt, and uses that to better herself, not just for herself but for her daughter. She also doesn’t play the character as overly noble. Sidibe makes Renee real, someone we can have sympathy for and empathy with, someone we want to see succeed. It is a wonderful performance.
Young Cadence Reese is also terrific as Imani. She is so natural, never overly-precocious, very well-behaved and clearly loves her mother. She does the bit where she tells her mother that she’d rather stay with her new family so well that it’s actually shocking, as is her behavior during one of their visits and she’s more excited to see Mrs. Patterson than she is her own mother. It would have been nice to see a scene where the Patterson’s sit Imani down and explain that she’s just with them for a short time, but when she later apologizes to her mom for being mean it all feels right. Sean Anthony Baker is also wonderful as Jeff, a man dealing (not well) with the death of his wife, upholding her traditions at the diner and showing empathy for Renee without being a knight in shining armor character. He just does what anyone would do if they were able to help someone in need. Myles Truitt is also good as his son Curtis, an aspiring musician who feels his dad doesn’t understand him and is as trapped in the diner by his mother’s spirit as Jeff is. He is understandably frustrated with his dad, but he also gives a nicely heartfelt performance during a scene — orchestrated by Renee — where the two men really see each other for the first time. Walnette Marie Carrington is very good as Kelly, forming a nice bond with Renee, but also showing her own vulnerabilities particularly when it comes to her mother. Charmin Lee is almost the villain of the piece as Tiana, a mother who has had enough of her daughter’s irresponsible behavior, bringing her emotions to a boil when she reveals to Renee exactly why she has such animosity toward Kelly. Susan Gallagher is fine as Mrs. Patterson, but the decision to play her a bit creepy for most of the movie does her no favors. She seems like a completely different person by the end which is a little jarring.
Other than that and the exploitation title, Give Me Back My Daughter is a powerful and ultimately uplifting story tackling an issue that too many people are facing on a daily basis.
Give Me Back My Daughter has a run time of 1 hour 27 minutes, and is rated TV-14.
Official Trailer | Give Me Back My Daughter
Lifetime