Vera Drake haunts audiences

In the eyes of her family, Vera Drake (Imelda Staunton, David Copperfield, Shakespeare in Love) is the mother with the heart of gold. Everyday she greets her elderly neighbors with a smile and a cup of tea, hums a pleasant tune while she works as a maid for the local elite and still puts dinner on the table every evening for her family. But in secrecy, Vera manages to help women in trouble who "cannot manage."

Throughout the movie, set in the 1950s, Vera's family fails to realize that their perfect mother is a felon who has been helping poor women by performing illegal abortions for over 20 years, although she has had no medical training. Her husband Stan (Phil Davis) works at his brother's auto shop. Her son Sid (Daniel Mays) is a dapper young man and upcoming tailor. And her daughter Ethel (Alex Kelly) is a reserved girl with intense feelings for the equally shy Reg (Eddie Marsan).

While her family is away at work, Vera meets with the devious and greedy Lily (Ruth Sheen) who puts Vera in touch with desperate young women. Vera, whose motives are pure, is unaware that Lily charges all of her patients before the abortion; she herself neither charges nor receives anything.

The scenes where Vera performs the operation using a cheese grater, carbolic soap and a Higginson syringe are some of the most powerful in the movie. Although the scenes have no graphic material, the emotionally distraught reactions of the women during the procedure as they tremble in silence are enough to merit an R rating.

One day, one of Vera's clients becomes hospitalized after the abortion and the police are informed about Vera's involvement. Soon, the quiet pace of the movie is interrupted as Vera's family watches their smiling matriarch turn into an emotional wreck.

The plot of the film flows lucidly throughout the film, while the dialogue eventually gives way to silence and a chilling soundtrack. The brilliant cinematography and deeply disturbing scenes of Vera's horror at the thought of injuring someone only further the impact of the film. Staunton's evolution from a smiling wife and mother to a distraught wreck is nothing less than the mark of theatrical genius, as is the transformation in the rest of Vera's family.

Despite the sensitive nature of the film, writer-director Mike Leigh (Secrets and Lies) was able to create a profoundly expository work of art that contrasts the lives of the poor and the rich without editorializing. During the first part of the movie, Leigh uses the story of a wealthily young girl who is raped by her boyfriend and then seeks an abortion from an expensive and sterile medical clinic to demonstrate the destructive nature that abortions can have on women regardless of financial standings, and the basic human need for compassion during such procedures.

Vera Drake is a prime example of exquisite cinematic art. The movie's powerful and haunting nature is derived from the realistic quality of the dialogue and transformation of the different members of Vera's family. Vera Drake is a flawless, must-see cinematic masterpiece that transcends time to explore one of today's most controversial subjects.

Vera Drake (125 minutes) is rated R for depiction of strong thematic material and is playing at Landmark Bethesda Row Cinema and CO DuPont Circle 5.