Mental

Mental (2012) is an Australian-American comedy-drama you can watch online on iFILM, directed by P.J. Hogan. A father of five daughters hits a wall and simply drives away — but before he goes, he picks up a stranger on the highway and leaves her in charge of the house.

That stranger is Shaz (Toni Collette): loud, unpredictable, and clearly carrying more than she lets on. Collette plays her without softening the edges — Shaz isn't a quirky fairy godmother, she's a woman with her own fractures who happens to recognise the same in these girls, and that's what makes her useful to them. Liev Schreiber, Kerry Fox, and Anthony LaPaglia round out a strong ensemble. Hogan made something sharp and genuinely funny that doesn't pretend the hurt underneath isn't real. Stream Mental (2012) online on iFILM.