Quietly poignant, A Clever Woman portrays a bittersweet navigation of the complexities of family life and loss. The impeccable Josie Lawrence and Tanya Myers play sisters Dot and Phoebe who must return to their childhood home on the Isle Of Wight to clear away their late mother’s belongings. Simultaneously, they confront some uncomfortable truths about their parents.

Mourning is presented as a long and complicated journey in this convincingly funny and ever-surprising film. Jon Sanders and Anna Mottram’s production style seems almost improvised at times; Lawrence and Myers’ dialogue is an intricate dance that adds to the film’s painful rawness. David Scott’s hauntingly nostalgic cinematography contributes to themes of sisterhood, emptiness, and the need to face an unspoken past. A Clever Woman (the title inspired by poet Mary Coleridge, whose work is prominent throughout) is an intimate, uncut exploration into the intricacies of family life. 

Filmhouse, 17 August, 11.15am.