Sherrybaby

Sherry Swanson, recently released from prison after years of battling drugs, returns to the town she grew up in and sets out to reclaim the daughter she raised before her time behind bars. She moves back into her family home and tries to rebuild ordinary life, including the fragile bond with the child she hopes to regain. But the people around her are wary and skeptical about her ability to stay clean, and old tensions within the family flare up just as Sherry starts to reassert herself. The story follows her efforts to prove she is reliable, to love her child, and to resist the temptations that threaten her progress. It is a quiet, intimate drama concerned with recovery, trust, and second chances.

Directed by Laurie Collyer, Sherrybaby stars Maggie Gyllenhaal as a mother trying to win back her child, with Brad William Henke, Sam Bottoms, and Giancarlo Esposito in supporting roles. Made on a modest budget, the film rests on an original screenplay and emphasizes performance and realism over routine melodrama.

Critics praised Gyllenhaal's unflinching performance and Collyer's restrained direction. The film probes how addiction, parole and family history shape a woman's attempt to rebuild trust and a sense of normalcy. It asks whether true accountability can coexist with mercy and how the people closest to you either shield or sabotage your efforts to change.

Sherrybaby contributed to conversations about reintegration after imprisonment and child custody. Its blunt portrayal of relapse pressures and the limits of family support gave audiences a lens into the tough choices facing recovering parents and the communities that supervise them.

The film did not receive major nominations, but it earned notice in some critics circles for Gyllenhaal's performance and Collyer's direction. It stands as a compact example of a late 2000s indie drama that treats motherhood with frank immediacy.