she struggles to reintegrate into a society which refuses to forgive

A young woman (Sandra Bullock) gets sentenced to a long stretch in prison for committing a serious crime, but she struggles to reintegrate into a society which refuses to forgive her past sins.

“Do the crime, do the time”, the idea being that when you get out, you are free to start your life again. But what if the time wasn’t enough to pay off the crime? What if you got off lightly? Wouldn’t you deserve to have your life ruined? The Unforgivable explores the nature of forgiveness and freedom.

We are in no doubt that Sandra Bullock’s life was freer on the inside. Outside she has to regularly check in with her parole officer, she has huge restrictions placed on her life by the State, she has to guard the secret of her past transgressions or face the consequences. But no matter how she tries to get on with it, people will not let the past lie.

There are moments in this film where we can see the powerful acting chops that earned Bullock her Oscar in the magnificent The Blind Side. We never feel the film is bombarding her gratuitously for dramatic effect nor are we made to feel that she was okay to do what she did. No, but we do wholly sympathise with a woman who made a fatal mistake and is simply not allowed to survive.

A wonderful and believable movie. Completely compelling.

4/5

© 2021 Bryan A. J. Parry

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