A Bump Along The Way (Shelly Love, 2019): UK

Reviewed by Jacob Mohler. Viewed at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival 2020.

”A Bump Along The Way” is an entertaining story of the ever-growing relationship between a mother and daughter pair at odds with one another. When the mother finds out that she is pregnant there will be a struggle to maintain a relationship with her teenage daughter. The film is directed by ‘The Forgotten Circus’ Director Shelly Love, written by Tess McGowan and produced by ‘Touched By An Angel’ producer Roma Downey and ‘The Survivalist’ producer Louise Gallagher.

This film is set in the small town of Londonderry, Ireland. Pamela (played by Bronagh Gallagher), a single mother, is struggling to connect with her teenage daughter Allegra (played by Lola Petticrew) who is dealing with her own problems at school. Pamela works part-time at a bakery. She and her daughter are low on money partially because of Allegra’s absent father. This forces them to live in the home that Pamela inherited from her deceased mother.

When Pamela is out celebrating her forty-fourth birthday she gets knocked up in the back of her friend Kieran’s (played by Gerard Jordan) work van. Kieran also happens to be twenty years younger than her. A few days later she finds out that she’s pregnant with Kieran’s child. She’s happy that she’s pregnant with another child while her daughter, on the other hand, is not happy.

When word gets out around the town that her mom is pregnant, Allegra starts to get teased more at school. This situation just adds to the already abundant amount of torment that she receives on a daily basis. This takes such a toll on her that it starts to wedge a gap between her and her friends.

This is a brilliant film with amazing performances by Bronagh Gallagher and Lola Petticrew. Lola brought to the table a great performance of a teenage girl struggling with school and just being a teen in general. And Bronagh with her excellent portrayal of a struggling, single mother. Even though Bronagh’s character Pamela is supposed to be a mess she ends up making you feel for her and her situation.

Allegra also makes you feel for her character. Being a teenager just out of high school I am able to sympathize with her character Lola a lot. Having the constant expectation to be amazingly smart and ace everything can be a strain on your mental health.

I have to say that one of the scenes that really showcased their acting abilities would be the scene where Pamela tells Allegra that she’s pregnant. Petticrew plays Allegra in this way that shows anger, sadness, and disappointment in her mother. She shares this tender moment with her mother which makes you almost emotional. Gallagher does a great job with Pamela and makes me feel that the acting on both sides was superb. Even though Pamela is being berated by her daughter she’s able to come through and comfort her daughter. This was some brilliant writing from Tess McGowan.

Another key part that made this film as great as it is was the cinematography. Cinematographer Mark McCauley was definitely the secret weapon in this film. He helped convey the loneliness feel to Bronagh’s character Pamela by using lots of wide shots when it would focus on her. The excess space surrounding the character helped give her this alone, abandoned feeling. That was also the case for Allegra. When Allegra was at school they’d show her alone in a wider shot. The cinematography almost played a role of its own in this film.

I got to see this film on the opening night of the 2020 Santa Barbara International Film Festival. It was the film’s U.S. Premiere. I’m so glad I was able to attend this special screening that included an appearance from the lead actress Bronagh Gallagher. Even though this film came off as depressing or sad to most of the people that saw it I saw it differently. To me, it tells a sweet story between a mother and daughter trying to come to grips with each other. A common occurrence in today’s time.

Overall I loved the film and would recommend it to anybody that loves having a good laugh as well as a good cry.