The first time I watched Unauthorised Absence, I was sitting in a packed screen at Curzon Soho for its premiere, surrounded by parents, young people, campaigners and professionals, many of whom had lived some version of what was about to play out in front of us. The second time, a few weeks later, I was at home on the sofa, after the film had been released for anyone to watch for free. I thought I knew what I was going to see, and I hadn't expected it to feel like a slightly different film.
I'm still thinking about both viewings, and about the gap between them, so this is my attempt to put some of that into words.
What the film is about
Unauthorised Absence is a fifteen-minute drama written by Jo Clayton, directed by Georgia Parris and developed and produced by Natalie Lauren, with Anna Maxwell Martin, Alix Wilton Regan, Jennifer English and Hugh Viney among its executive producers. It was crowdfunded and made independently, which, given how beautifully it's made, is an enormous achievement.
Thea is nine. At home she's imaginative and affectionate, showing off her collection and finding faces in the clouds. At school she's struggling in ways her school can't see, and her mum, a single parent holding down a job, is the one being held responsible. They're stuck on a three-year waiting list for an autism assessment, the support sessions Thea had at school have been withdrawn, and the phone calls, letters and fines keep coming. Over and over again, the message to her mum is some version of the same thing: all she has to do is get Thea in.
Nobody in the film ever calls Thea's mum by her name. Every voicemail from school begins "Hi Mum", and at the premiere I wrote that it was a title many of us in the room felt in our bones. Watching it again, I felt it just as much.
It's shot in a way that feels raw and intimate without ever tipping into grittiness, with handheld camerawork and sound design that, as Stylist's coverage of the film put it, pull you right into Thea's sensory world, and the performances are wonderful, particularly Beatrice Flaherty as Thea, Cathy Tyson as the headteacher, and Emily Bruni as Mum.
You can watch the film for free on YouTube. It includes intense scenes of a child in distress around school, so you may want to choose a moment when you have a bit of space afterwards.
Where the film has gone since its release
At the premiere I said I hoped the film would be the start of many more conversations, with many more people, because one of the biggest challenges in SEND campaigning is reaching people who aren't already living and breathing these issues.
The film was released on 10 November, screening in more than 70 locations across 11 nations and territories at the same time as it went online for free, and in just a couple of days I've loved hearing how families have been using it. I imagine putting it out for free can't have been an easy decision, as short films are often held back from public release for a long time to protect their chances at festivals, so I'm grateful the team chose to put it where families, schools and decision-makers can actually see it. Parents have been sending it to their children's schools and to their local authorities, and some have been getting it in front of their MPs. There's something quietly powerful in that. A parent who has spent months, sometimes years, trying to explain what an attendance record can't show can now send somebody fifteen minutes of film and ask them to watch it.
The look on her face
Scattered through the film are these brief cutaways, close-ups of Mum's face while she's somewhere deep inside her own head. The first time I watched it, I didn't think much about where they fitted in. I simply recognised the look.
It's quite hard to describe. Her mind seems so full of everything she's holding (the calls, the letters, the meetings, the job, the money, the child she loves, who is overwhelmed before she's even made it out of the front door each morning) that there's no room left for anything else, and at the very same time something behind her eyes has gone quiet and far away, as though she's been emptied out. Full and empty at once. I think many of us who are SEND parents will know that look, and know it from the inside far better than any words I can find for it.
I recognised that look before I understood what I was looking at. Understanding it came later, on the second watch.
Spoilers from here
If you haven't watched the film yet and would like to see it for yourself first, this is the place to stop and watch it on YouTube. The rest of this post talks about the ending.
What the second watch showed me
On the second viewing, I realised that those close-ups are cutting forward to the end of the film, to Mum sitting beside Thea's hospital bed. The film is her going back through everything that led there. What we experience as events unfolding is, for her, something she is already remembering.
That changed the whole film for me. The look I had recognised the first time wasn't only the exhaustion of a mum in the middle of it all; it was also a mum looking back, replaying every call, every meeting and every morning, and every time she was told that all she had to do was get Thea in.
The order in which those two things happened to me feels important. Feeling came first, understanding second, which is how so much of this works for parents. We often know something is wrong long before we have the words, the diagnosis or the evidence anyone else will accept.
It turns out this was very deliberate. In an interview with Directors Notes, director Georgia Parris describes Mum recollecting how she got to where the film ends as a really important device, and says that keeping the camera inside the family means "you feel it before you understand it", which is almost exactly what happened to me across those two viewings.
The mornings that never reach a crescendo
The film ends with Thea, overwhelmed and terrified as Mum tries one more time to get her into school, running into the road. It's an ending you can't look away from, and I understand why the filmmakers chose it. A film like this has to make people outside the SEND world stop and feel the weight of what they're watching, and some families have lived through outcomes every bit as devastating, which I don't want to take anything away from.
What I keep thinking about, though, are all the mornings that never build to a dramatic crescendo anyone outside the family would recognise as a crisis.
For far more families, the morning ends without an ambulance. The child is distressed, the parent is distressed, something between them has been strained a little further, and then they go home. Nobody else sees it, so nobody else has to remember it. The school records an absence, or a late mark, and tomorrow is treated as a fresh start for everyone except the two people who were there. The expectation is exactly the same the following morning, and the morning after that.
I keep wondering what would have happened if Thea and her mum had both got home safely that day, and Mum had been expected to do it all again the next morning.
That's the part I find hardest to put into words. Every morning like that asks a parent to keep pushing a child towards something that child is telling them, in every way they can, that they can't manage. Mum in the film isn't cruel or careless. She's gentle, she's desperate, she apologises, she tells Thea she can do it, and she does what she's been told she has to do, because her job, her rent and the threat of prosecution are all hanging on it. Thea, meanwhile, is learning something about whether the person she trusts most can keep her safe. Neither of them chose that position, and both of them are paying for it.
I've experienced some of these things from both sides, first as a child growing up in very difficult circumstances and now as a parent myself. Although the circumstances are very different, I've seen how profoundly systemic failures can affect family relationships, even when you're doing everything within your power to protect them. That, more than any single dramatic moment, is what I think the film captures so well.
What the school sees, and what it doesn't
It would be easy to watch the film and come away blaming the school, and I don't think that's what it's asking of us. Everyone around Thea seems stretched, from the school to the assessment service apologising for its waiting list, the person phoning about the fine is reading out the rules they've been given, and some of what is said to Mum comes from people who seem to believe they're helping.
In the same interview, Georgia Parris explains that she and Cathy Tyson talked a lot about the headteacher coming from a place of believing she was doing what was best for Thea, rather than playing a clichéd nasty headteacher, and you can feel that in the performance. That's what makes it so recognisable, because in my experience most of the professionals families meet are not villains, they're people doing what the system has told them is right.
Some of the lines will be painfully familiar to families, though. Mum is told that Thea is really settled and happy at school, with a promise attached. She's asked whether Thea might be playing her. She's told that, because Thea doesn't have a diagnosis and is a bright girl, there's only so much the school can offer, and that because of her poor attendance, Thea can no longer keep her place in the support sessions that were helping. The support a child needs to be able to attend is taken away because they can't attend, and nobody in the room seems to notice the circle they're standing in.
The families I work with are so often told their child is "fine at school" while at home they see the after-school unravelling, the exhaustion and the world slowly getting smaller. I've written more about that gap in The Things Professionals Miss: What "Fine in School" and One-Hour Assessments Will Never Tell You and Beyond "School Refusal": What Happens When a Child's Nervous System Says Enough, and about why education only counts if a child can actually access it in Education Only Counts If a Child Can Access It.
What an attendance record can't tell you
At the premiere, we heard from Lani, an autistic young woman who spoke powerfully about what attendance records don't show. She made the point that 100% attendance doesn't mean a child is okay, happy or learning, that being absent doesn't mean a child is lazy or doesn't care, and that so many children who can't attend school desperately want to, because wanting to and being able to are two very different things.
Anna Maxwell Martin also read out an account from a young man whose absence from school was bound up with poverty, unmet needs and a family who never got the right support. He later tried to hold his local authority to account through legal action, which sadly wasn't successful, and he couldn't be there that night because he'd just started a law degree. So much of what these systems do is take power away from children and families, reducing a young person to an attendance figure and a parent to just "Mum", and there's real strength (alongside real pain) in the way he, the filmmakers and so many others in that room have found ways to take some of it back.
What they described is backed up by research and by what families have been saying for years. When neurodivergent pupils were interviewed about school distress, they described impacts reaching far beyond whether they were in the building. In a survey of 947 parents of children experiencing school distress, many described feeling shamed and blamed, with effects on their wellbeing, work and family life, and Cerebra's report on systems-generated trauma documents the same pattern of parent blame that Mum lives through on screen.
If there's one thing I'd love schools, councils and MPs to take away from the film, it's that we need to look past whether a child is physically in school and start asking whether they're getting an education that's accessible and right for them. A present mark can't tell you what it took to get a child there, whether they were able to learn anything once they arrived, or how they were afterwards, and an absence mark tells you very little about how much they wanted to go.
Why this belongs in the SEND reform conversation
Attendance is increasingly being used as one of the ways councils are asked to show that SEND support is working, and I've written about what that kind of measuring can hide in What gets counted, and who gets missed. At the same time, under the Government's SEND reform proposals, the detail of most children's help would move out of their EHCP and into a school-written plan that couldn't be taken to the SEND Tribunal, that the Ombudsman couldn't investigate, and that nobody would have a clear legal duty to deliver. For children like Thea, whose needs go unrecognised until things reach breaking point, that would mean even fewer ways for a parent to secure the support that might make school bearable.
If you'd like to understand the proposals, my guide SEND Reforms: what they mean for you sets them out, and my letter builder makes it quick to write to your MP and ask them to protect the legal rights of children with SEND. You could even send them the film alongside it.
Thank you
Kirsti Nicole Hadley, who invited me to the premiere, sent me a lovely photo this week of the two of us with Jo Clayton, the film's writer, which brought the whole evening rushing back (including how loud the reception was; I'm fairly sure I heard one word in three all night).
Huge congratulations again to Jo, Natalie Lauren, Georgia Parris, Anna Maxwell Martin and everyone involved. Making a film like this independently is an enormous achievement, and watching it travel from a cinema in Soho into school offices, council inboxes and MPs' surgeries has been a joy. I really hope it keeps going.
Questions families often ask
This section is general information based on my years of supporting families, my IPSEA legal training and my own experience as a SEND parent. It isn't legal advice about your individual situation.
Where can I watch Unauthorised Absence?
The film is free to watch on YouTube and runs for about fifteen minutes. It includes intense scenes of a child in distress around school.
Should I send the film to my child's school or council?
Many families are, and it can be a helpful way in when you've struggled to explain what mornings are like at home. It usually helps to add a short note saying what you'd like them to take from it, and what you'd like to talk about next, so the conversation stays focused on your own child.
Can I be fined if my child can't get into school because of their needs?
Once a child reaches a set amount of unauthorised absence, a school has to consider a penalty notice, though considering one isn't the same as having to issue one. The Department for Education's statutory guidance, Working Together to Improve School Attendance, is built around support coming first, recognises that children with SEND or health conditions may need additional support and reasonable adjustments, and says medical evidence for illness should only be needed in a minority of cases. The law also recognises, under section 444 of the Education Act 1996, that a child isn't failing to attend regularly when they're prevented from attending by sickness or any unavoidable cause. If you're facing prosecution, please speak to a specialist education solicitor as soon as you can.
School says my child is settled and happy, but home tells a very different picture. What can I do?
Keep a simple daily log of what you see before and after school, and share it in writing. A difference between home and school is a reason to look more closely, rather than evidence that either account is wrong, and it's worth asking school to record and share what they're seeing too. If your child may have special educational needs, you can request an EHC needs assessment yourself.
My child's support was reduced because they weren't attending. Is that allowed?
Ask for the decision and the reasons in writing. If the support is written into your child's EHCP, the council has a legal duty to secure it under section 42 of the Children and Families Act 2014, and that duty doesn't depend on attendance. If your child doesn't have an EHCP, ask the school how it plans to meet their needs instead, and when that will be reviewed.
Who has to arrange education if my child can't attend school at all?
Under Section 19 of the Education Act 1996, councils must arrange suitable education for children of compulsory school age who, because of illness, exclusion or otherwise, may not receive it unless those arrangements are made. This applies whether or not your child has an EHCP, and my alternative provision toolkit walks you through how to ask.
If you need support now
All my Canary SEND toolkits are free for families.
How to Get Alternative Provision (Even Without an EHCP): for when your child isn't getting a suitable education and you need the council to arrange it under Section 19 of the Education Act 1996.
How to Request an EHCP Assessment: for asking for an EHC needs assessment, with a fuller letter that gives you the best chance of agreement first time.
Education Otherwise Than at School (EOTAS): for when school isn't working for your child.
Getting the EHCP Right, From Draft to Final: for checking and challenging the wording of your child's plan.
You may also find Not Fine in School helpful for parent-to-parent support when attendance becomes difficult, and Square Peg, a parent-led organisation that works alongside Not Fine in School, campaigns for better understanding of barriers to school attendance and a support-first approach for families.
Sources
Unauthorised Absence (2026), written by Jo Clayton, directed by Georgia Parris, produced by Natalie Lauren, YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dn8C7WuGv8g
British Council Films and Festivals, Unauthorised Absence project page: https://filmsandfestivals.britishcouncil.org/projects/unauthorised-absence
Stylist, "What happens when asking for help gets you fined?": https://www.stylist.co.uk/entertainment/what-happens-when-asking-for-help-gets-you-fined-the-new-film-challenging-britains-school-attendance-rules/1117708
Department for Education, Working Together to Improve School Attendance (statutory guidance, July 2026): https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a4f9ec6a6586e258d371bd0/Working_together_to_improve_school_attendance_2026.pdf
Education Act 1996, section 19: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/56/section/19
Education Act 1996, section 444: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/56/section/444
Children and Families Act 2014, section 42: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/6/section/42
Fielding et al. (2025), Neurodivergent pupils' experiences of school distress and attendance difficulties: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/27546330251327056
Mullally and Connolly, "I felt shamed and blamed": https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12058700/
Cerebra (2025), Systems Generated Trauma: https://cerebra.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Systems-Generated-Trauma-Report-web.pdf
Department for Education, SEND reform: putting children and young people first (consultation): https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/send-reform-putting-children-and-young-people-first
Not Fine in School, Families: https://notfineinschool.co.uk/families
Square Peg: https://www.teamsquarepeg.org
Directors Notes, interview with Georgia Parris and Natalie Lauren (10 November 2026): https://directorsnotes.com/2026/11/10/georgia-parris-natalie-lauren-unauthorised-absence/
