Tender Loving Care. 2026. Written and directed by Mike Leigh

Tender Loving Care. 2026. UK. Written and directed by Mike Leigh. With Kate O’Flynn, Marion Bailey, Paul Jesson, Alice Bailey Johnson. DCP Courtesy Bleecker Street. 107 min. For over 50 years, Mike Leigh has been making movies about Britons who look like us: his characters work long hours, have tense relationships with their families, and, most of all, are granted little reprieve from the relentless war of attrition that defines contemporary life. What a pleasure, then, that in his 83rd year he graces us with a film aptly titled Tender Loving Care. Anchoring the film are two social workers who spend their days trying to make the world a better place: Amy (Kate O’Flynn), a newly single thirtysomething who moves back into the apartment of her longtime bestie, Rosie (Alice Bailey Johnson). The two care for one another with dating advice, heated venting sessions about their coworkers, and generous portions of boxed wine. Also up for examination are Amy’s parents, Geoff and Birdie (luminously played by stage actors Paul Jesson and Marion Bailey), who are gloriously in love in their old age and somewhat flummoxed by Amy’s difficulties with matchmaking. What makes Leigh’s movies so moving is how lived-in they feel; there’s not one false or exaggerated note, and when life intercedes, as it always does, it’s riveting and heartening to watch these characters work out how to be there for one another. Tickets are available to members at the Explore category and above beginning two weeks before each screening date. Additional tickets will be released to members and the general public one week before each screening date. Please note that space is extremely limited and tickets will be in high demand. Tickets can be reserved at moma.org/contenders beginning at 10:30 a.m. ET. For the Contenders series, due to limited availability, members at the Explore category and above receive two free tickets per membership. If a screening is sold out, a standby line will form one hour before the start time. If you are a ticket holder and arrive after the scheduled start time, we cannot guarantee entry.