San Francisco Chronicle
Leba Hertz
October 28, 2011

During the 1950s and 1960s, England shipped thousands of children, unbeknownst to their parents, to Australia, where they mostly ended up living in terrible conditions at institutions.

"Oranges and Sunshine" is a fictionalized and well-done account of how one social worker from Nottingham in 1986 stumbles upon the tragedy and dedicates her life to helping these now grown-up children (many with post-traumatic stress disorder) find their real parents.

Emily Watson, who always brings a special grace to the screen, gives a multilayered performance to the role of Margaret Humphreys, who not only puts her own family dynamic at risk but finds herself physically threatened.

Give credit to director Jim Loach (son of Ken) for using practically no flashbacks, which could have rendered the movie a cliche, and instead allowing the adults (including Hugo Weaving as the shell-shocked Jack and David Wenham as the bitter Len) to express successfully the pain and fear they endured as childrenn.