Precious
Release date: 2009-11-06
Votes: 1712
Genres: Drama
In Harlem in 1987, Claireece "Precious" Jones is a 16-year-old African American girl born into a life no one would want. She's pregnant for the second time by her absent father, and at home she must wait hand and foot on her mother, an angry woman who abuses her emotionally and physically. School is chaotic and Precious has reached the ninth grade with good marks and a secret – she can't read.
Reviews
ViciousSnowflake
This is kind of a rough movie to watch. A very victimized and bullied teen tries to get through life. It ends on a fairly positive note but damn. Incest babies is just a weird, skin crawling topic for me so that is always going to be rough to go through.
CinemaSerf
Towards the tail end of the 1980s, "Precious" (Gabourey Sidibe) is feeling anything but. Intimidated by her angry, petty criminal, mother "Mary" (Mo'Nique) whilst expecting her second child by her own father. She's 16, big, black and constantly bullied - with little chance of that cycle improving amidst a community that isn't looking for any new problems. Sometimes the only solace this girl can take is when she imagines herself living a more glamorous, escapist, lifestyle - but those are merely momentary escapes from her tough urban existence. There might be a blessing from her latest pregnancy, though, as the school principal sees it as an opportunity to transfer her to a school where she might actually get some attention, feel more included and make some new friends. It's that evolving characterisation that the young Sidibe delvers potently here as she gradually begins to feel a little more empowered, finds some inner strength and courage and maybe even starts to see a corner she can turn. There's also something to be said for the less frequent but still quote powerful contributions of Mo'Nique as a mother whom, as the narrative develops, might not be so drastically different from her daughter and who is quite possibly just as lost and out of her depth. It's a film about appreciating self-worth more than anything, and though this particular scenario also adds racial tensions and a great deal of frustration and hopelessness, it isn't without a degree of optimism if the spirit is there - and it gets a little timely help now and again. It's a solid indictment of one-size-fits-all educational politics and proves that teaching is most definitely a vocation that requires vision, patience and understanding. There's an all-star cast to spot if you want, but they aren't really needed, it's all about these two women at the top of their game.
Movie Recommendation
The Dead1987-09-03After a convivial holiday dinner party, things begin to unravel when a husband and wife address some prickly issues concerning their marriage.More...
Tigertail2020-04-10A man reflects on the lost love of his youth and his long-ago journey from Taiwan to America as he begins to reconnect with his estranged daughter.More...
The Legend of Tarzan2016-06-29Tarzan, having acclimated to life in London, is called back to his former home in the jungle to investigate the activities at a mining encampment.More...
Scandal in Sorrento1955-12-22Back to his hometown, a former marshal finds his house occupied by a young woman working as a fishwife.More...
Aya of Yop City2013-07-17While Aya has dreams of becoming a doctor, her two best friends, Adjoua and Bintou, just like to hang out and spend their evenings dancing, drinking and flirting with boys. Their ambition is to follow Plan C: Combs, Clothes and Chasing Men! But big trouble comes to town when Adjoua realizes she’s pregnant, and the baby’s father is the spoiled son of one of the richest and most feared men in the whole country.More...
Rosewater2014-11-07In 2009, Iranian Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari was covering Iran's volatile elections for Newsweek. One of the few reporters living in the country with access to US media, he made an appearance on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, in a taped interview with comedian Jason Jones. The interview was intended as satire, but if the Tehran authorities got the joke they didn't like it - and it would quickly came back to haunt Bahari when he was rousted from his family home and thrown into prison.More...
Puzzle2018-07-27After years of caring exclusively for the needs of her husband and children, Agnes, a devoted housewife living in a small town near New York, has found something she really enjoys doing: solving puzzles.More...
Kids for Cash2014-02-07Filmmaker Robert May chronicles the case of a once-respected judge who received kickbacks for sending juvenile offenders to prison, even for minor crimes.More...
Veronika Decides to Die2009-05-16After a frantic suicide attempt, Veronika awakens inside a mysterious mental asylum. Under the supervision of an unorthodox psychiatrist who specializes in controversial treatment, Veronika learns that she has only weeks to live.More...
No Time for Nuts2006-10-23Scrat comes across a time machine and is transported to various times all in pursuit of his beloved acorn.More...
The Butcher1970-02-27An unlikely friendship between a dour, working class butcher and a repressed schoolteacher coincides with a grisly series of Ripper-type murders in a provincial French town.More...
Steel Dawn1987-11-06In a post-apocalyptic world, a warrior wandering through the desert comes upon a group of settlers who are being menaced by a murderous gang that is after the water they control.More...
The Sapphires2012-08-08It's 1968, and four young, talented Australian Aboriginal girls learn about love, friendship, and war when they entertain the US troops in Vietnam as singing group The Sapphires.More...
The Auschwitz Report2021-03-18This is the true story of Freddy and Walter – two young Slovak Jews, who were deported to Auschwitz in 1942. On 10 April 1944, after meticulous planning, they manage to escape. While the inmates they had left behind courageously stand their ground against the Nazi officers, the two men are driven on by the hope that their evidence could save lives.More...
Motherhood2009-01-21In Manhattan, a mother of two preparing for her daughter's sixth birthday party has no idea of the challenges she's about to face in order to pull off the event.More...
Vollidiot2007-04-11Based on Tommy Jaud's bestselling novel, this comedy focuses on a dispassionate clerk and his set-backs in life. 29-year-old Simon works in a phone shop, but his thoughts just circle around finding a new girl-friend after being left by his last one year ago. While his Croatian cleaner tries to procure him, his efforts to chat up women in clubs also fail. However, he finds the woman of his dreams (and mother of their future children) in his most hated coffee shop, although not having a clue how to win her heart...More...
Le Premier Cri2007-10-31Documentary about births around the different cultures and regions of the world.More...
Fat People2009-09-11Due to many reasons, ranging from insecurity to trauma, a group of people have gained a lot of weight in recent times.More...
Roll Red Roll2019-03-22At a 2012 pre-season high-school football party in Steubenville, Ohio, a young woman was raped by members of the beloved high school football team. The aftermath exposed an entire culture of complicity—and Roll Red Roll maps out the roles that peer pressure, denial, sports machismo, and social media each played in the tragedy.More...
The Misfortunates2009-10-0713-year-old Gunther Strobbe grows up surrounded by alcohol, trash and his completely useless father and uncles. Slowly but surely, he's being prepared for the same hapless life. Can he defy his destiny?More...
Similar Movies
Rashomon
1950-08-26Four people recount different versions of the story of a man's murder and the rape of his wife.Basquiat
1996-08-09The brief life of Jean Michel Basquiat, a world renowned New York street artist struggling with fame, drugs and his identity.Dogville
2003-05-21A woman on the run from the mob is reluctantly accepted in a small Colorado community in exchange for labor, but when a search visits the town, she learns that their support has a price.The Experiment
2001-03-0820 volunteers agree to take part in a seemingly well-paid experiment advertised by the university. It is supposed to be about aggressive behavior in an artificial prison situation. A journalist senses a story behind the ad and smuggles himself in among the test subjects. They are randomly divided into prisoners and guards. What seems like a game at the beginning soon turns into bloody seriousness.Wag the Dog
1997-12-25During the final weeks of a presidential race, the President is accused of sexual misconduct. To distract the public until the election, the President's adviser hires a Hollywood producer to help him stage a fake war.The Hours
2002-12-27The story of three women searching for more potent, meaningful lives. Each is alive at a different time and place, all are linked by their yearnings and their fears. Their stories intertwine, and finally come together in a surprising, transcendent moment of shared recognition.To Kill a Mockingbird...
1962-12-20Scout Finch, 6, and her older brother Jem live in sleepy Maycomb, Alabama, spending much of their time with their friend Dill and spying on their reclusive and mysterious neighbor, Boo Radley. When Atticus, their widowed father and a respected lawyer, defends a black man named Tom Robinson against fabricated rape charges, the trial and tangent events expose the children to evils of racism and stereotyping.Full Metal Jacket
1987-06-26A pragmatic U.S. Marine observes the dehumanizing effects the U.S.-Vietnam War has on his fellow recruits from their brutal boot camp training to the bloody street fighting in Hue.Wild Things
1998-03-20When teen-socialite Kelly Van Ryan and troubled bad girl Suzie Toller accuse guidance counselor Sam Lombardo of rape, he's suspended by the school, rejected by the town, and fighting to get his life back. One cop suspects conspiracy, but nothing is what it seems...Everything Is Fine He...
No data for this movie25-year-old Arghavan lives with her parents in Tehran, and intends to marry her fiancé, Hesam. One day, her short stories win her a grant to attend a writing workshop in Germany. Soon before she is to leave, however, Arghavan is abducted and raped. In a strict, conservative society where young women are expected to be virgins before marriage, this is a social catastrophe. Plagued by gossip and finding little solace, Arghavan's life begins turning into a nightmare.Lucky Number Slevin
2006-02-24Slevin is mistakenly put in the middle of a personal war between the city’s biggest criminal bosses. Under constant watch, Slevin must try not to get killed by an infamous assassin and come up with an idea of how to get out of his current dilemma.Hotel Rwanda
2004-12-22Inspired by true events, this film takes place in Rwanda in the 1990s when more than a million Tutsis were killed in a genocide that went mostly unnoticed by the rest of the world. Hotel owner Paul Rusesabagina houses over a thousand refuges in his hotel in attempt to save their lives.Volver
2006-03-17A resourcefull working-class woman living in Madrid gets her hands dirty in family secrets with the help of a teenage daughter and hairdresser sister.Boys Don't Cry
1999-09-02A young transgender man explores his gender identity and searches for love in rural Nebraska.Boyz n the Hood
1991-07-12In the middle of the Los Angeles ghetto, drugs, robberies and shootings dominate everyday life. During these times, Furious tries to raise his son Tre to be a decent person. Tre's friends, on the other hand, have little regard for the law and drag the entire neighborhood into a street war...Oldboy
2003-11-21With no clue how he came to be imprisoned, drugged and tortured for 15 years, a desperate man seeks revenge on his captors.Dead Man Walking
1995-12-29A death row inmate turns for spiritual guidance to a local nun in the days leading up to his scheduled execution for the murders of a young couple.A Streetcar Named Des...
1951-09-19A disturbed, aging Southern belle moves in with her sister for solace — but being face-to-face with her brutish brother-in-law accelerates her downward spiral.Almost Famous
2000-09-15In 1973, 15-year-old William Miller's unabashed love of music and aspiration to become a rock journalist lands him an assignment from Rolling Stone magazine to interview and tour with the up-and-coming band, Stillwater.Rosemary's Baby
1968-06-12A young couple, Rosemary and Guy, moves into an infamous New York apartment building, known by frightening legends and mysterious events, with the purpose of starting a family.