Worth: $18.00
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Cast:
Margot Robbie (narrator), Linda, Sarah-Jane, Claire, Mary, Nada, Margaret
Intro:
There is a subtle power in this film – these women’s stories will stay with you. Their hope, courage and self-reliance, as well as their loneliness, desperation and the brutal lack of support are unforgettable.
Mary’s mind is sharp but her body is ageing. Like all the women featured in this documentary, she is homeless. Born of an Aboriginal mother and an Irish father, there was instability in her early life, and she was raised by foster parents. Now in later life, there is instability again. She’s moved from one hostel for homeless people to another. “Anxiety kicks in at times,” she says, “wondering what’s gonna happen next. But there are others worse off than I am.” Mary is 84.
Under Cover focuses on women in their fifties and beyond – the fastest growing demographic facing homelessness in Australia. These women often live in their cars, couch surf, or stay in temporary accommodation or caravan parks. Writer/director Sue Thomson (The Coming Back Out Ball Movie) has made a documentary that’s compelling and compassionate. The gentle narration by Margot Robbie is kept to a minimum and the women tell their stories themselves.
The complex and varied reasons older women are facing the crisis of homelessness are explained. No two women have the same story but there are a couple of common threads – nearly all the women featured say that homelessness was something that they never thought would happen to them. “Homelessness was not even on my radar,” says Linda, 71, who immigrated with her family to Australia from the UK at age 16. “I had never, ever considered that I would be homeless,” she says. “Never.”
While all the women openly discuss the emotional rollercoaster of homelessness, there is another common thread – a complete lack of self-pity. The inner fortitude of “grey nomad” and one-time single mum, Margaret, is particularly inspiring. In her own words, she is not homeless, but “houseless”, living in a motor-home she bought with a chunk of her super.
Filmed over two-and-a-half years, the documentary also covers the effect that Covid and lockdowns had on the women, and we also see the work of people who are trying to address this problem, and the opening of a temporary women’s shelter.
There is a subtle power in this film – these women’s stories will stay with you. Their hope, courage and self-reliance, as well as their loneliness, desperation and the brutal lack of support are unforgettable.
Almost half a million Australian women are at risk of homelessness, and Under Cover arrives – incredibly – at the same time that Australia has been named the richest country on the planet. Median personal wealth per adult sits at around $409,000, according to the Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report.
But there’s something desperately wrong in the Lucky Country. Just ask Mary…
