Patient and caregiver bond at a pandemic-stricken nursing home in Acorn’s ‘Help’
A young care worker forms an unlikely bond with a dementia patient as the COVID-19 pandemic strikes their facility in a drama movie upcoming on Acorn TV.
In “Help,” which begins streaming Monday, Jan. 31, Jodie Comer (“Killing Eve,” “The White Princess”) stars as Sarah, a directionless young woman who appears to find her calling when she goes to work for a nursing home in the English countryside. One of the patients, Tony (Stephen Graham, “Line of Duty,” “The Irishman”), is 47 and has early onset dementia, which causes him episodes of confusion and aggression that other workers find difficult to handle but Sarah has a talent for keeping under control.
But when the pandemic strikes, all bets are off. Confusion and fear reign as misinformation circulates and the illequipped workers and their overwhelmed manager Steve (Ian Hart, “The Terror”) struggle to protect the residents, in some cases to no avail. And Sarah is left to shepherd Tony through it – and vice versa.
The film is the brainchild of Jack Thorne (“Enola Holmes,” “His Dark Materials”), who wrote the screenplay as a love letter to the care industry and to call attention to how overworked, underpaid and underappreciated the workers are. Graham, who had always wanted to work with Comer, was intrigued by the idea, signed on and undertook rigorous research to play Tony, including spending time with dementia patients.
“It was my idea from the onset not to play the illness but to play the man ...,” the British actor explains. “I really got to understand (not only) the illness but predominantly how the illness affected them and how it was a part of their lives. And you know, we (would) go into minute detail about the frustrations that they have and they explained to me how anger can arise and you can feel the anger and you want to be able to stop it and you get lost.”
And while the formal relationship between Sarah and Tony is that of caregiver and patient, the personal one is more symbiotic. Graham created Tony as a sort of favorite uncle one could joke around with, which Sarah is drawn to, while Tony sees in Sarah the sister he lost.
“It’s a meeting of soulmates,” Graham says. “It’s kind of like two people at that particular point in their lives really need each other to help them through that process that they’re going through ... and the great fates have put them together so they can walk that path of their journey together for that space of time. And each one brings out the best in the other.”