Another Year (2010)

Tom (Jim Broadbent) and Gerri (Ruth Sheen) are a lovely, older married couple living in London and spending time working in their community garden. Over the course of four seasons, they entertain various friends and family members in their home, including their son, Joe (Oliver Maltman), who breaks a long, dry spell by meeting a new girlfriend; Ken (Peter Wight), an overweight working stiff who drinks and complains too much, and Mary (Lesley Manville), the nervous, needy secretary who also drinks too much and flirts uncomfortably with Joe. Some of these characters look forward to new futures, some old wounds are opened, and some hard lessons are learned.

It may seem that this is one of his lesser films due to its lack of a clear central character. Tom and Gerri are the anchoring characters, and everything revolves around them, but Mary is the most prominent character, and the one with the biggest dramatic arc; moreover, notwithstanding Lesley Manville's extraordinary performance, she's not particularly likeable. But on several subtle levels, this is a very accomplished movie.