Mari review – Georgia Parris’ stirring drama about a pregnant dancer

Bobbi Jene Smith is excellent as a dancer attempting to reconcile motherhood, performance and family in this promising indie filmThe latest triumph from Film London’s Microwave scheme – the BFI and BBC Film’s programme that has produced such worthwhile investments as Hong Khaou’s Lilting and Eran Creevy’s Shifty – is an engrossing close study of a thirtysomething woman caught between two worlds, and two states of being.American choreographer Bobbi Jene Smith plays Charlotte, a principal in a contemporary dance troupe whose preparations for a major show are dealt two blows in quick succession.

First comes a positive pregnancy test, and the realisation the body with which she so forcefully expresses herself will undergo radical change.

Second, there’s a call from her family, gathering round the hospital bed of her dying grandmother.

A rehearsal-room prologue has already established Charlotte’s remarkable physical flexibility; what follows is

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