Heroine in bid to right her lifestyle

Written and directed by Laurie Collyer, making her dramatic feature debut, the film pulls few punches in its depiction of a battered and bruised soul clawing her way along a path of missed opportunities and temptation.

Shot on digital video, Collyer’s film conjures its grim mood with ease, accentuated by Jack Livesey’s downbeat music that carries the central character on her turbulent journey of self-discovery.

One-time heroin addict Sherry Swanson (Gyllenhaal) emerges from a three-year stint in jail, determined to make something of her life.

Determined to prove wrong her cynical parole officer, Hernandez (Giancarlo Esposito), Sherry attempts to reconnect with her young daughter, Alexis (Ryan Simpkins), who now lives with her brother Bobby (Brad William Henke) and his wife Lynette (Bridget Barkan).

Tensions are evident. Alexis is settled quite happily with Bobby, and Sherry’s sudden re-emergence is unsettling.

Using her smouldering sexuality to secure both accommodation and employment, Sherry gradually lays the foundations of her new life.

Sherrybaby follows a familiar route but Collyer’s acute ear for dialogue and some nicely observed scenes between Sherry and her family elevate this intense character study above the norm.

Gyllenhaal is a mesmerising screen presence.

Alternating between temptress and emotional cripple, she conveys the many layers of her protagonist’s damaged personality with a raw, blistering intensity.

She sheds all of her inhibitions to lay Sherry, quite literally, bare in front of the cameras.

Henke offers excellent support as the doting brother torn between his needy sister and a wife who has adopted Alexis as her own.

By the end, we’re almost as emotionally spent as the heroine.