Herself stays formally interesting in its use of jagged flashback structure and a woe-filled but fiery monologue about the treatment of women, wives and mothers from Dunne.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 23, 2024

Phyllida Lloyd’s Herself is a modest Irish movie about a single mom who builds a little house for herself and her two young daughters. Sweet enough, but the circumstances that motivate her plan ... throb with urgent topicality.

| Jul 28, 2024

Clare Dunne gives a resilient and empowering performance.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Sep 11, 2022

“Herself” is an interesting mix of clear-eyed movie realism and life-affirming drama.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 17, 2022

A quietly eloquent little film about the hurt of ending an abusive relationship, the hardship of asking others for help, and the healing power of starting a new life on your own terms.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | May 5, 2022

An inspiring story filled with moments of grace about a mother determined to build a safe home for her children.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Jan 2, 2022

The movie is a well-crafted, soulfully acted glimpse at what victims of abuse suffer.

| Sep 25, 2021

Director Phyllidia Lloyd (Mamma Mia!) does a masterful job of bringing Sandra's experiences together into an immensely watchable and frequently touching narrative.

| Sep 23, 2021

It's got foundations rooted in reality. The body off the house is in-between the dream and the fulfillment, and it's roof has its head in the air...I enjoyed it very much.

| Sep 21, 2021

Lloyd makes something genuinely nightmarish of the worst attacks, but Dunne's creased vulnerability ... keeps us tethered to waking reality.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 17, 2021

Ultimately uplifting in every sense...

| Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 17, 2021

Two parts reality, one part wishful thinking, Herself is heartfelt, female-driven, people-positive and mostly feelgood. But bring tissues.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 16, 2021

Slightly too good to be true at times, it's nevertheless rather lovely.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 12, 2021

Dunne, who also co-wrote the script, brings admirable grit and pathos to her character without allowing her to become a victim. Still, the film's abrupt tonal shifts are jarring.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Sep 11, 2021

Dunne is an outstanding lead, whose emphatic performance is bolstered by the always reliable Walter and Hill.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 11, 2021

Herself is smart in the way it balances the importance of individual charity and the need for wider reform - one provides the hope, the other provides the answers.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 10, 2021

Both harrowing and heartwarming, Herself tackles the issues of domestic abuse and the Irish housing crisis with a deep sense of humanity and hope.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 10, 2021

Herself is upsetting and inspiring in equal measure, and Dunne, who co-wrote the screenplay, is excellent as a cornered but resilient woman whose story is all too universal.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 10, 2021

A... schematically uplifting story about rebuilding a life and having faith in the inherent goodness of others.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 10, 2021

Lloyd's radical fairytale is enchanting.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 10, 2021