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Anchor and Hope review – barges, babies and big themes in touching canal drama

Two women want a child somewhat unequally in Carlos Marques-Marcet’s honest and compelling waterway film

Spanish-born Kat (Natalia Tena) and English Eva (Oona Chaplin) are a gleefully, almost nauseatingly happy couple who live on a funky reconditioned barge on which they chug along the canals of London. Neither has a particularly well-paying job – Kat wants to get deeper into boat-building but pulls pints at a pub, while Eva teaches salsa – but they get by on a steady diet of intense love, tequila and hot sex.

A few key events lead to a realignment of their priorities: their beloved cat Chorizo dies, leaving a big pet-sized hole; Kat’s best friend Roger (David Verdaguer) comes to visit from Barcelona, and Eva starts longing to have a child, particularly so someone else will remember her beloved, kooky hippy mother Germaine (Geraldine Chaplin, Oona’s mother in real life). Kat is less enthusiastic about the baby idea, but goes with the flow when Eva suggests they ask a willing Roger to donate sperm for their home insemination programme.

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from Culture | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2QfbrT8

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