Happy-Go-Lucky

Happy-Go-Lucky (2008) is a Mike Leigh comedy-drama you can watch online on iFILM. It follows Poppy, a North London primary school teacher whose stubborn good cheer can drive everyone around her up the wall. Sally Hawkins makes her impossible to look away from.

Poppy gets by on a modest salary, shares a flat with her best friend, and bikes everywhere. When her bike is stolen she just shrugs and signs up for driving lessons — and that's where the film finds its spark. Her instructor, Scott, is a bitter, angry man played by Eddie Marsan, and their hours in the car become a quiet war between his rage and her relentless optimism. The longer it goes, the clearer it is that Poppy's happiness is a choice, not naivety.

Hawkins won a Golden Globe for the part, and Leigh was up for a screenwriting Oscar. There's no tidy plot here, just lived-in scenes built through improvisation, and that's exactly why it works. Sunny, but never simple. Stream Happy-Go-Lucky online on iFILM.