Happy-Go-Lucky (2008) on Netflix
Poppy Cross, a primary school teacher in Camden, shares a flat with her fellow teacher Zoe. When her bicycle is stolen, she begins driving lessons with Scott, a cynical driving instructor.
- Netflix3.0/5
- IMDb7.0/1042,848 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes93%
Trailer
Plot summary
Poppy Cross, thirty years old and single, lives in a London flat with her closest friend Zoe, and both women teach at a primary school. Poppy is optimistic, high-spirited and kindhearted. She goes clubbing with friends, prepares projects for her students, jumps on a trampoline and takes flamenco dancing lessons. When her bicycle is stolen, she is less troubled by the loss than by the fact that she never said goodbye to it. Deciding to learn to drive, she is paired with a driving instructor named Scott, who is moody, intolerant and cynical and grows agitated when he feels she is not taking the lessons seriously. He nurses conspiracy theories and holds racist and misogynistic views. At school, Poppy notices one of her pupils, Nick, bullying his classmates, and she worries about the boy.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Happy-Go-Lucky (2008)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- For the driving lessons, five miniature cameras were hidden around the car and the actors genuinely drove it, with Mike Leigh wedged on the floor behind the front seats. He let them improvise more than usual so they could react to what was really happening outside.
- The mirror-checking mantra "En-ra-ha" that Scott drills into Poppy was invented by Eddie Marsan while he improvised his way into the character, taking the name from a recording of the English occultist Aleister Crowley.
- After decades of film-making, Happy-Go-Lucky was the first picture Mike Leigh shot in the wide 2.35:1 anamorphic format.
