A mother’s cruelty is severe childhood trauma. It ruins your self-esteem. Creates a rage that turns into self-hate, seething inside until it drives you almost crazy. That’s Charlotte Vale in Irving Rapper’s 1942 Now, Voyager. Trapped. Lonely. Sad. Because she believes she is an “ugly duckling,” just as her mother calls her. That’s a horrible feeling. You can’t trust love. You lose hope …

One demands power. One gives it up. That’s Ray and Colin in Harry Lighton's touching and sad film, Pillion. The emotional interplay between them gives us a window into anxieties at the heart of love. That is, when love can’t simply be the point. No, love is not simple for some people. It’s scary. Vulnerable. Insecure. And, sometimes, love is just not allowed …