Tag: covid

Review: Jodie Comer is Electrifying In Help

A friend of mine told me about this TV drama movie starring the brilliant Jodie Comer of ‘Killing Eve’ fame. All I knew was that it was about a Care Home during the pandemic but with her involved I thought it would probably be very good. She has a trusted record for really getting into character and this topic was close to my heart as I used to work through weekends and holidays in a Care Home. Here is my review of Jodie Comer in ‘Help!’

‘Help!’ is the story of a woman looking for a job and managing to get one working for a Care Home. She was a natural with the residents, who happened to include Tony, a character with dementia played by Stephen Graham (White House Farm).

A gripping drama based on reality, with fictional characters. Help movie review.

Jodie said in an interview that she was looking for a chance to work with Stephen and they were both really pleased to be able to keep their Liverpudlian accents whilst in these roles. Stephen’s character had early onset dementia and so was often confused about whether or not his mother was alive. He spent lots of time trying to escape the Home and get back to the home he used to share with her. Meanwhile, covid was starting to show up on the news and Care Homes started scrabbling around for basic protection. This showed how creative care workers had to be as there was a widespread shortage of PPE. Wearing builders’ masks and bin bags, carers had to do their best to carry on looking after residents without safety measures to prevent them from catching this awful bug.

Realistic Performance

Jodie’s character had a difficult family and really needed this job but didn’t expect to find herself working alone one evening. Her boss was at home ill and her other colleague didn’t show up for the night shift. Struggling to manage a Covid patient, she roped Tony in to help her.

Some close camera work followed her emotional rollercoaster as she did her best to try and get an ambulance and continuously had NHS 111 on speakerphone in her pocket while she looked after residents, desperate for assistance. Her family had preferred that she didn’t work in care but it was clear that this was where she belonged.

Covering the crisis in care very realistically, this TV drama is 98 minutes long and very powerful. It reminds us how Covid patients in hospitals were offloaded onto Care Homes and left to transmit the disease in a setting where there was little defence. Residents were not allowed to have visitors and some relatives came to speak to them through the windows. The dire situation was worsened as staff became ill and staff shortages increased many times over.

In A Nutshell

Jodie and Stephen did a great job of portraying characters who provided an insight into this very recent, very troubling period. You may be used to Jodie Comer doing accents, but this time she used her own. Not only did I feel the acting was magnificent but it also made me feel so sad that so many families had to go through such traumatic times.

For more TV suggestions check out this blog post. If you liked my Help movie 2021 review please consider following my blog for more about books, TV and the environment.

Cooling Down – A Poem

Weather changes but some things stay the same.

Stirring winds and gentle breezes,

Cloudy shadows and reddening skies.

A slight chill tickles your spine,

Cold temperatures causing sore eyes.

Covid feels distant yet still it transmits,

Businesses plan Christmas parties.

Halloween looms with its tricks and its treats,

I’d be quite happy with Smarties.

People forget all the things they had learned,

Mix closely and stir up the issue,

While hospitals struggle and nurses work hard,

I hear someone sneezing ‘A-Tissue!’

Look after each other as Autumn prevails,

Show that you care, with respect.

Try to be sensible, enjoying the season,

Let Autumn be what you expect.

Covid Realist or Pessimist?

Maybe it is the pessimist in me that makes me worry about the new attitude people are having towards the Covid pandemic. Many people say that I am a happy and positive person but, regarding this situation, I like to think of myself as more of a realist.

Is it just spiralling out of control?

When I am confused about something or want to make a decision, I usually weigh things up using lists. Here is my pros and cons list about the current situation:

Pros

1) The vaccine is mostly rolling out well (although we still have many who refuse to take it and teenagers who have not been given the chance).

2) Businesses have been able to reopen fully, which means job security and the end of government loans and furlough.

3) That’s where I start to run out of positives but I can see people enjoying themselves, partying and generally having fun.

Cons

1) The UK infection rate is rising rapidly. Roughly 50 thousand people are testing positive daily.

2) Hospitalisations have increased markedly in the past few weeks. Currently 4.5 thousand people are staying in hospital each week.

3) The death rate has reached 96 in a day, heading towards a few hundred a day in the near future.

4) Freedom Day meant an end to social distancing and mask wearing in public spaces.

5) Large crowds of football fans and lots of close gatherings, including nightclub events and celebrations have meant a very quick relaxing of attitudes towards Covid. Such sudden relaxing could easily fuel a steeper rise and the introduction of more variants.

So yes… At this time I do feel like the negative points outweigh the positives. It is unlike me to concentrate on the negatives but I feel there is no choice right now. Pragmatic people can see that the reality is that we have a problem and just turning a blind eye to it will not make it go away.

This was one of my most serious posts yet. I do want everyone to have a lovely summer but fear that if we all go crazy it may be a very bleak Autumn indeed.

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Here is a link to my recent poem about Freedom Day: https://jamieadstories.blog/2021/07/19/freedom-day-really-uk/