Debbie Tucker Green’s fearless writing as a playwright for the Royal Court and Young Vic has earned her a reputation as a provocative dramatic poet.
She moved to the screen in 2011 when she adapted her one-woman monologue on knife crime, Random, into one of the most unique one-off Channel 4 dramas in recent memory.
In her feature debut Second Coming she presents nine months in the life of a tight-knit family who seem to have been blessed with an immaculate conception. Jax (regular collaborator Nadine Marshall) works in the local benefits office and lives with her husband, rail engineer Mark (Idris Elba) and their quiet and contemplative son JJ. Jax’s unexplained pregnancy (Mark and her have not touched ‘in ages’) shakes the close knit family; and all the while Jax’s external demeanour remains unreadable.
So unshakeable is her composure in the face of deep internal anguish that her family and friends are left confused and frustrated. A British social realist tale that shines a light on a social reality (that of the middle class black family) rarely seen in cinema, Green’s debut feature film marks her a fresh and startlingly authoritative new voice in British cinema.