Career Girls

Career Girls is a 1997 British comedy-drama film written and directed by Mike Leigh which tells the story of two women, who reunite after six years apart.

The women were originally thrown together when they shared a flat while at university and the film focuses on their interpersonal relationship.

The following year, Ricky Burton, a socially awkward person who stutters, has temporarily moved in with Hannah and Annie after being kicked out by his landlord.

While discussing psychological traits with them in a pub, Ricky's untactful probing angers Hannah.

Ricky leaves and doesn't reappear, so Hannah and Annie travel to his grandmother's home in Hartlepool.

Later, they kiss and discuss why he split up with his ex-girlfriend: Adrian says he didn't want the commitment, and leaves when Annie asks why.

In a flashback, Annie and Hannah cry and hug as they pack, preparing to leave their flat at the end of their four years at university.

They see their old flatmate Claire jogging on Primrose Hill, and discuss the coincidence of seeing two old acquaintances in one afternoon.

They decide to visit their old flat, and there spot Ricky sitting on the steps outside the Chinese takeaway, holding a toy elephant.

The website's critics consensus reads: "Outwardly modest but carried along by Mike Leigh's deft direction, Career Girls gradually accumulates power as a study of shared history.

"[4] According to Metacritic, which sampled 25 critics and calculated a weighted average score of 76 out of 100, the film received "generally favorable reviews".

[5] Todd McCarthy of Variety called it one of Leigh's "most modest pictures, although one that offers quite a few laughs and other quirky pleasures.