Tender Loving Care is a 2026 British comedy-drama film written and directed by Mike Leigh. The film stars Kate O'Flynn, Marion Bailey, Paul Jesson, and Alice Bailey Johnson.
Tender Loving Care had its world premiere at the 53rd Telluride Film Festival on 4 September 2026, and is scheduled to be released in the United Kingdom by StudioCanal on 12 February 2027. The film received positive reviews from critics.
Contents
Cast
Kate O'Flynn as Amy
Marion Bailey as Birdie
Paul Jesson as Geoff
Alice Bailey Johnson as Rosie
Bríd Brennan
Peter Wight
Alan Williams
Sandy Foster
Amanda Lawrence
Diveen Henry
Ashna Rabheru
Eva Holovko
Kaedon Skerritt
Tilly Vosburgh
Production
In February 2026, it was reported that Leigh had concluded shooting his next film, along with the announcement of the core cast.
Leigh said that Tender Loving Care was "most likely" his last film, given the physical challenges caused by illness.
Release
The film had its world premiere at the 53rd Telluride Film Festival on 4 September 2026. It was also screened in Special Presentations section of the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival. It entered the main competition of the 74th San Sebastián International Film Festival, where it won three jury prizes (the Golden Shell for Best Film, the Jury Prize for Best Screenplay, and the Silver Shell for Best Leading Performance for Kate O'Flynn). It was also selected for the Main Slate of the 2026 New York Film Festival and in a headline gala of the 70th BFI London Film Festival.
It is scheduled to be theatrically released in the United States by Bleecker Street on 4 December 2026.
Reception
Critical response
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 100% based on 45 reviews, with an average rating of 8.5/10. On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 85 out of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".
Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave Tender Loving Care five stars, wrote "Mike's Leigh's new film - perhaps his last - is a poignant, intergenerational drama of happy-sad acceptance that life goes on, until it doesn't go on". Owen Gleiberman of Variety gave it a generally positive review, writing that the film was "an intermittently compelling, mildly affecting, in the end slightly scattershot movie".