Movie Review: Under Cover
Movie Review: Under Cover
8 October 2022
Wirlomin Noongar author Claire G. Coleman shares her story in Under Cover, detailing her time sleeping rough and living out of a van. She highlights the role of colonisation and inequality in the housing crisis.
Australia is in the middle of a housing crisis, but unless you work with people daily who are at risk of homelessness, you can forget how dire the need for reform is. To coincide with World Homeless Day (10 October), the new documentary Under Cover shines a much-needed spotlight on women over 55 who have experienced or are experiencing homelessness in this country.
More than 240,000 women in this age bracket have been deemed at risk of homelessness for many reasons, varying from domestic violence and family breakdown to mental health issues and unemployment. And as the fastest growing cohort at risk of homelessness, we are overdue for this personable and honest documentary about housing during and after COVID-19.
Narrated by Margot Robbie, Under Cover makes the heartbreaking statistics come alive, introducing us to a variety of strong, tenacious women in Australia. They are mothers, wives, upper-class workers, single women, activists, immigrants, First Nations people and members of the LGBTQ+ community. But what unites them is their sudden spiral into homelessness through circumstances out of their control.
It is heartrending yet necessary to hear these women’s stories, as their dignity transcends the screen. We are invited into their homes – a car, a van, or a caravan park. And in some cases, meet women who have found more stable accommodation. Yet the prevailing detail is that there is simply not enough available housing, and while services like The Salvation Army need to be equipped to help women find short-term and permanent solutions, the power lies in the hands of government legislation.
Under Cover is a humanising and important piece of work chronicling what it looks like to be a woman in Australia in 2022. It is rated PG for mild themes and coarse language. You can watch it now at select cinemas across the country.
MELBOURNE: Classic Cinemas, Elsternwick. Lido Cinemas, Hawthorn. Cameo Cinemas, Belgrave. Cinema Nova, Carlton. Palace, Westgarth. SYDNEY: Ritz Cinemas, Randwick. Palace, Chauvel. Cinema Palace, Byron Bay. CANBERRA: Palace Electric. BRISBANE: New Farm, Palace Barracks. ADELAIDE: Palace, Nova Eastend. PERTH: Luna Palace, Leederville TASMANIA: State Cinema, Hobart. Reading Cinemas, Devonport.
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