Una

Una has never come to terms with the end of her first love affair which was brought to a sudden and unexpected halt. Years later she comes across a photo of her ex-lover and tracks down where Ray now works to confront him. He is shocked by her unannounced arrival at his workplace and the subsequent confrontation takes all day (though it is interrupted by a meeting he has to go to etc).

Una is not only looking for answers, she is also needy and very angry with Ray and as the day wears on increasingly vengeful. Ray is initially defensive but gradually they talk though most of unresolved issues between them in a way that the professional help has been unable to resolve for Una.

Rooney Mara portraits Una as a highly believable mercurial woman who is damaged goods. Ben Mendelsohn probably has the easier job as Ray. A man with a secret who is hiding from things.

Una is not an easy film to like because the love affair that is the genesis of the film is one between Ray and Una when she was 13 and he was the man you lived next door. We are not supposed to think of such a relationship as a love affair but as child abuse. Both Ray who spent 4 years in jail and Una who had professional help once the police were involved have been schooled to regard it as child abuse but film suggests that neither completely believes this. 🎥

Ian's rating 4/5