16 year old black girl living in Harlem. Illiterate, obese, poor, and damaged by long-term abuse by family, with one child and another one on its way. Luckily she has developed a great survival instinct, the strongest will, and a sense of humor on top of it. An alternative school gives her a fresh start, but it is not turning her life around in a second like in any other cliche movie.
This is one of those films that makes your stomach turn. It simply hurts to watch the girl, Precious, being emotionally and mentally abused by her own mother daily. Precious’ revealed inner thoughts leaves you utterly disturbed by displaying even worse episodes from her past. But these flashbacks are intertwined with her dreams for the future – and you see how this girl still keeps her hope up while you as a viewer can’t understand how she can hope, and really can not believe things can change at all under her circumstances.
What I got out of this movie in the end wasn’t hope at all. But I remember the face of one girl, that unfortunately represents the stories of too many people. Horror stories I normally don’t think about because they make me uncomfortable. This movie is a movie that makes you uncomfortable, but aware. And the monster of a mother, played with frightening intensity by comedian Mo’Nique, really makes you appreciate your own!