Clark has crafted a film with restrained resonance that highlights a devastating disease while remembering that those who are dealing with it are what's most important.
Clark's film treats bracing subject matter with honesty and often startling intimacy but never loses sight of the courage shown by this particular family and the many others in the country affected by a truly horrifying condition.
Froggatt's performance finds some strong notes. And a more sophisticated and complex film might well have failed to approach the painful realness of this story.
Writer-director Bill Clark doesn't flinch from depicting the physical effects of Tom's illness, and neither does he pull any punches when it comes to showing us its gruelling emotional costs.