Savannah Leaf’s feature debut tackles a complex protagonist and the broken foster care system – here’s our Earth Mama review.
In her feature debut, writer/director Savannah Leaf presents an imperfect person in an impossible situation. Tia Nomore plays Gia, a single mother living in the Bay Area, with two children in foster care and another baby on the way. Her life is a fine balancing act. She works to make ends meet, attends her required addiction-recovery meetings, has regular drug tests, and fights to be able to not just get her children back, but to keep the baby she’s currently carrying.
Leaf’s style of filmmaking is interesting in that it paints a picture of a system where the cards are stacked against Black women, reinforcing generational trauma, while also being unconventionally dispassionate. She lets the screenplay and the characters speak for themselves, as flawed as they are, without overly trying to gain our sympathies.
As a result, Gia is a fascinating protagonist. She’s an addict, so it’s easy to understand why the system might intervene to protect her children, but it’s also painted as a cruel thing that refuses to target the heart of the problem in favour of splitting families up. Gia’s weekly visits with her children make it clear this isn’t always for the best, as they’re filled with a mixture of joy and heart-wrenching sorrow.
Partially adapted from Leaf’s 2021 documentary short The Heart Still Hums, which she co-directed with Taylor Russell, it hurts even more to know that much of what happens in Earth Mama is informed by reality. These women are caught in a catch 22 – the majority of their hours are spent in mandatory courses required to reunite them with their children, but they also won’t be reunified unless they take on more hours at work to become financially stable. Of course, there are only so many hours in the day, and Nomore captures in her performance the internal struggle between her determination to reunite her family and the apathy that comes from realising the system is rigged.
Leaf’s style of filmmaking continues to be understated and almost documentary-like throughout – there are some moments during addiction-recovery meetings where participants are telling their stories to the camera. While Nomore single-handedly conjures more than enough emotional turbulence for the entire film, the way Earth Mama is shot can sometimes come across as a bit detached, and overall hinders our ability to connect with Gia.
For some, the power behind Tia Nomore’s performance will be enough to overcome that barrier, and there’s no denying that Earth Mama sheds light on a broken foster care system that’s in desperate need for reform.
Earth Mama is in UK cinemas on 8th December.
