Family drama fails to hit the mark

Before you go is the story of three very different sisters who reunite at the family home to bury their dead mother.

Teresa (Julie Walters), Catherine (Victoria Hamilton) and Mary (Joanne Whalley) have such differing personalities it’s hard at first to believe they came from the same mother.

But as their nostalgic tales of childhood are drawn on to help ease the pain of bereavement, it becomes clear a common thread of secrets runs through them.

The film opens with the sisters as young girls playing on the beaches of the Isle of Man, but the innocent years of childhood have given way to the harsh realities of life.

Poor dialogue and weak performances by the cast keep us from ever really caring about the main characters.

Julie Walters, in her middle-aged dullard role, is difficult to empathise with. Victoria Hamilton’s Catherine is just bloody annoying. She spends most of the film stoned, and seems to be the only one getting the joke.

But Mary provides a few twists and manages to help the film through it’s duller moments.

Drama, 15. **