Sherrybaby - discussion guide

 
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Summary

The story of a young mother and former heroin addict trying to rebuild her life after three years in prison, Sherrybaby is never easy viewing. However, boasting an award-winning performance by Maggie Gyllenhaal as the eponymous Sherry Swanson, the film is a compelling and thought-provoking story of one woman’s struggle for redemption against the cold realities of life. We follow Sherry as she comes out of prison determined to make a new start in the world. However, she quickly finds that life on the outside is not ‘some kind of heaven’ as she might have hoped. Sherry faces disappointments and heartache in her battle to regain her daughter’s affections after having left her in the care of her brother and his wife. She must rebuild that relationship and convince these surrogate parents, and also herself, that she is capable of being a good mother. In her efforts to prove this, Sherry finds herself resorting to doing whatever it takes to achieve her goals. This not only results in some sexually graphic scenes, but also knocks Sherry’s fragile sense of self-worth and adds extra pressure to the constant temptation to turn back to drugs. Sherry’s situation is a desperate one and the film offers no easy answers, but it does raise some important questions.

Background

The character of Sherry is based on a close childhood friend of writer and director Laurie Collyer, and Gyllenhaal’s mesmerizing portrayal combines with the documentary-style cinematography to give Sherrybaby a very raw and authentic feel. In preparation for the role, Gyllenhaal spent time in halfway houses, drug recovery programmes and parole meetings, coming to feel a sense of responsibility for producing an accurate portrayal of the lives of the women she met. Although divided about the overall merits of the film, critics were universally appreciative of her efforts: ‘You may not like the character - you'd be deluded if you did - yet your heart opens up and bleeds for her.’[1]

According to Collyer, Sherrybaby is about hope:

the hope of a young woman trying to reconnect with her child after a long hard road of drug addiction and prison time. It is a desperate, almost primal hope which exists beyond reason. But this is truly what hope is - an indomitable spirit that keeps us believing that life can be what we imagine. As a character, Sherry Swanson is the embodiment of hope because she has nothing left to believe in, and yet she still believes.

Despite all the problems in her past, Sherry genuinely believes that she can make a new start and be a good mother to her daughter. She soon discovers that things are not as easy as she’d hoped, yet she continues to believe that she can prevail, asserting, ‘I’m strong’, even when all evidence suggests otherwise. However, in the end Sherry is forced to admit that she can’t make it on her own. And it is as she makes this confession that we start to see some hope for her future.

More information and clips from the film are available on the official site: www.sherrybaby-film.com

Questions for Discussion

1. What did you think of the characters in Sherrybaby? To what extent do you think that the people and situations felt authentic? Who were you best able to empathise with?

2. Collyer says of the friend that inspired the character of Sherry: ‘in the back of my mind I knew that it could have been me going down that path.’ What factors are involved in leading Sherry to the situation in which she finds herself? How and why do some people avoid that way of life while others get trapped by it?

3. To what extent are other people and Sherry’s past experiences responsible for her situation? Is it possible for us to make free choices despite our upbringing and environment? To what extent can Sherry be blamed for the choices she makes and the person she has become?

4. Sherry finds that the outside world is very difficult to cope with. What makes it particularly hard for her? How can our society help to rehabilitate people in her situation effectively?

5. How did you respond to Sherry’s brother and his wife? How would you have dealt with Sherry in their situation? What did you think of the way they were raising Sherry’s daughter Alexis (Ryan Simpkins)?

6. What do you think is best for Alexis, given Sherry’s situation? How important is it for children to be raised by their mothers?

7. Collyer identifies hope as a theme of the film. In what ways is hope important when facing difficulties? When might hope be more negative? What kind of hopes do you have? Psalm 33 describes the benefits of hoping in God. How might this be important when facing difficult situations?

8. One of Sherrybaby’s taglines is: ‘we all deserve a second chance’. To what extent do you agree with this? How many times should a ‘second’ chance be extended to people who keep going wrong? Jesus tells us to forgive people not seven times ‘but seventy times seven!’ (Matthew 18: 22). How do you think this works out in practice? Is it a useful principle in Sherry’s case? How far could Jesus’s command work at a legislative level?

9. How do you cope when things keep going wrong and you keep messing up? Who do you turn to when you can’t handle things on your own?

10. To what extent do you think it is possible for people to change their nature? The Bible states that: ‘anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!’ (2 Corinthians 5:17, NLT). What is your response to this idea?

11. Sherry is forced to make moral compromises in order to win allies and get what she wants. What are your biggest aims in life? What would you be prepared to compromise in order to achieve them?

12. What did you think of Sherry’s approach to God and the Bible? What kind of difference did faith make in her life? What difference ought it to make?

13. How does Sherry change through the film? How important is her final talk with her brother? How do you imagine things might progress from the point the film leaves us?

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