Plot-Triggering Death: The death of Hortense's adoptive mother is what leads her to find out about her birth mother.Oh, Crap!: The dawning look of realization on Cynthia's face as she realizes she did have sex with a black man once and Hortense really is her daughter.Like a Son to Me: Maurice and Monica, despite not having seen her in a long time, are very fond of Roxanne, partly to compensate for not having any children of their own. Left Hanging: Cynthia never says anything about Hortense's biological father, refusing to answer both times that Hortense asks her.The barbecue lunch that starts to get slightly uncomfortable as people ask questions about Hortense is shown in a similar five-minute take with a still camera.The two are held in closeup the whole time. The first long talk between Cynthia and Hortense, set in a diner as Hortense shows Cynthia the documents and a weepy Cynthia realizes the truth, is a single eight-minute take in which the camera never moves.Law of Inverse Fertility: Cynthia had two unplanned pregnancies, while Maurice and Monica tried to have kids for 15 years with no success.Going by the way she tries to cut her mother off when she confronts Monica, Roxanne has probably already cottoned on to the real reason. Dramatically Missing the Point: Cynthia thinks that Maurice and Monica don't have children because Monica doesn't want any while Maurice does.(We never do find anything out about Hortense's father, except that he had sex with Cynthia when she was 15.) Cynthia eventually reveals that he simply skipped out on her one day. Disappeared Dad: Roxanne's father was an American med student named Bingham, whom Cynthia met while on vacation.The Disease That Shall Not Be Named: The cause of Monica's infertility is never mentioned, although some have speculated that it might have been endometriosis.Maurice: You don't half-choose your moments, Cynthia. Cynthia says their father's room is like "Niagara Falls". Captain Obvious: Cynthia and Maurice are talking about the state of disrepair that their old family home (where Cynthia still lives) has fallen into.The Cameo: Several actors who have appeared in other Mike Leigh films appear briefly as subjects of Maurice's photographs, including Liz Smith ( High Hopes) as an old lady with her daughter, Ruth Sheen ( High Hopes, Another Year) as one half of a couple, Tom Wight ( Naked (1993)) as part of a family, and Phil Davis ( Vera Drake, among others) as one of a group of men.And there's the sister's other daughter, who was given away in adoption at birth. There's the sister's pouty, hostile daughter. Big, Screwed-Up Family: Well, there's the brother and sister, and the brother's wife who clearly cannot stand the sister.Granted, despite the bitterness and hostility they display towards each other in many scenes, there are many earlier hints that they truly do care about each other. And he responds by saying that as long as they have each other, it doesn't matter very much that they can't have kids. Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Maurice and Monica have a tender, heartfelt scene near the movie's ending, where she confess that she loves him more than he can ever imagine. "You're never going to make me an auntie, then?"
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