The Unloved

The Unloved
Molly Windsor as Lucy sitting on a grass hill.
Written by	Samantha Morton Tony Grisoni
Directed by	Samantha Morton
Starring	Molly Windsor, Susan Lynch, Robert Carlyle
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
Production
Location(s)	Nottingham
Running time	140 minutes
Release
Original network	Channel 4
Original release	17 May 2009

The Unloved is a British television drama film starring Molly Windsor, Lauren Socha, Susan Lynch and Robert Carlyle. It is about an eleven-year-old girl called Lucy (played by Molly Windsor) growing up in a children's home in the UK's care system, and shown through her perspective. It is the directorial debut of Golden Globe Award-winning and two-time Academy Award-nominated actress Samantha Morton. The story is semi-autobiographical, Morton wrote and produced the film in collaboration with screenwriter Tony Grisoni.

It was produced for Channel 4 and shown as part of its Britain's Forgotten Children series, and was first broadcast on 17 May 2009. The film drew an audience of two million viewers.

Filmed entirely on location in Morton's hometown of Nottingham, the film cost £1.5 million to make. The title of the film was inspired by a newspaper article Morton had read about children in the foster care system. Morton spent time in other cities such as Newcastle, Glasgow and around London although decided it was best to make a film about the world she knew and grew up in. Originally wanting to set the film in 1989, Morton later decided against it as she wanted to focus on the struggles of the present day and not want audiences to write it off as a historical piece. The scene where Lucy witnesses the rape of Lauren didn't have Windsor present at the time as it was deemed inappropriate; her involvement in the scene was filmed separately and added later.

The film won Robert Carlyle a Scottish BAFTA for best TV actor in November 2009.