I think the film had a reasonably balanced set of messages with enough curly tidbits to take a few elements away and dissect over a coffee or two with friends. I found the portrayal of a struggling family group seemed very plausible and I especially loved the imagery and memories of a coastal sugar-cane town captured for the backdrop. In a couple of the scenes I'm not entirely convinced by Ms Barclay's performance as Lou's mother, but the rather poignant scene of the 4 "young" girls together on the beach towards the ending gels with one of the aspects that all of them (including Rhia) are still growing up together. Some nicely placed humour underpins parts of the character development and overall it seems a good plate of mind-food with hooks for many embattled parents. I agree with another reviewer that John Hurt's performance was great, he didn't overdo the illness symptoms to make Doyle too cheesy to be believed, and the audience at my session delighted in many of the childhood antics portrayed by the younger actors. Definitely good work by Lily-Bell Tindley as the memorable Lou.
Review of Lou
