In Amazing Grace, counsellor Grace, played by Hannah Walters, receives a late-night helpline call from Walter, an isolated working-class man portrayed by Daniel P Lewis, who also wrote the film. He is overwhelmed by trauma and loneliness and is considering suicide. Walter repeatedly hangs up when Grace’s questions become difficult, but calls back until he feels safe enough to discuss the causes of his distress and accept help.
His fragile progress is threatened when violence returns to his life. The intimate drama presents Grace and Walter’s conversations alongside Walter’s increasingly self-destructive reactions. Its repeated pattern can feel limiting, while Lewis’s performance is intense from the outset. Flashbacks also explain Walter’s past in emphatic terms rather than allowing the story to reveal it through conversation.
The film’s evident compassion for both characters is central to its impact, particularly as it addresses experiences that are common but, as the review notes, often go unspoken by men. Director Ruth Carney and the production design and props teams create a detailed portrait of Walter’s home: its objects, unopened mail, dirty dishes and unmade beds all suggest aspects of his backstory and daily life.
Sources: The Guardian Film.