Sunshine Cleaning

On paper, Sunshine Cleaning sounds almost as cheery as director Christine Jeffs’ previous film, 2003’s Sylvia. Amy Adams plays Nora, a high school princess turned down-at-heel single mum whose son has recently taken to licking pencil sharpeners at school. Emily Blunt is her Goth anti-sister Rose, all eyeliner and attitude. They unite, grudgingly, to clean up crime scenes in an attempt to earn school fees for the little licker. But far from being a tragic grind, Sunshine Cleaning is one long, wonderful irony. It feels like a first film – delicate, fresh and female. It’s here, working on the fringes of life, attacking morbidity with bio-hazardous chemicals and a Pollyanna attitude, that the sisters confront the loss of their own mother. Flanked by their father, Joe (Alan Arkin), the family develops without sentiment or cliché. And it’s this realism that makes Sunshine Cleaning truly touching.

Lórien Haynes