Jessie Buckley is the actress who, you may remember, was ‘phenomenal’ in Beast — I am quoting myself here so it must be true — and she is also phenomenal in Wild Rose. She plays a Glaswegian, ex-jailbird single mum who dreams of Nashville and making it as a country star and, good grief, the pipes on her. Sensational. And you can quote me on that. Indeed, I wish that you would. Bit fed up, frankly, of always having to quote myself. Like I don’t have enough to do!
Directed by Tom Harper (War and Peace, BBC) and written by Nicole Taylor (Three Girls, also BBC), this opens with Rose-Lynn (Buckley) leaving prison after completing a year-long sentence for a drugs offence. ‘You gonnae be the next Dolly Parton!’ her former prison mates shout out after her. (A word of warning: the accents are supremely Glasgow and I did long for subtitles, I have to say.) Reissued with her fringed white leather jacket and the white cowboy boots that are a pain to pull up over her electronic tag, she’s good to go, but not home. First, it’s a quick detour for a shag with some fella behind the bins, then it’s home, reluctantly, to her mother’s house. Her mother — played by Julie Walters who is, thankfully, allowed to act rather than just do Julie Walters as she did in, say, Paddington and Mamma Mia! — has been looking after Rose-Lynn’s two kids, a five- and an eight-year-old. Her mother wants Rose-Lynn to step up to the plate, take responsibility, but Rose-Lynn doesn’t know how to connect with her children who, in turn, are suspicious of her. Plus, she has other things on her mind.
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