Imelda Staunton's "perfect" drama with Daniel Mays is being removed from Netflix very soon

Vera Drake, the acclaimed British period drama starring Imelda Staunton and Daniel Mays, is currently streaming on Netflix, but you'll have to hurry if you want to watch it there as the listing is due to expire.

The film is from writer-director Mike Leigh and is set in 1950s London. Staunton plays the titular character, a working-class house cleaner who performs secret - and illegal - abortions for vulnerable young women.

The period drama, which won the Golden Lion (Best Film) Award at the 61st Venice International Film Festival, was added to Netflix last year, but it will be removed from the streaming service on 16 October - so don't miss out!

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In addition to Staunton and Mays, the latter of whom portrays Sid Drake, the stacked cast for the film includes Phil Davis, Eddie Marsan, Adrian Scarborough, Sally Hawkins, Ruth Sheen, Lesley Sharp, Jim Broadbent and Lesley Manville.

Vera Drake was widely lauded by critics upon its release in 2004, with Staunton picking up Best Actress awards at the Venice Film Festival, European Film Awards and BAFTAs, with Leigh also winning Best Director at the latter.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the period drama has an impressive approval rating of 92% from 159 reviews at the time of writing, while the audience score is slightly lower at 84% from over 10,000 ratings.

"The family scenes are meticulously constructed. Leigh's concern for the fate of his often repressed and damaged characters is genuine and rare," wrote World Socialist Web Site, while New York Daily News (via Rotten Tomatoes) called it "perfect down to the last detail".

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"Vera Drake acts as a potent reminder of where society has been, and it was a frightening and dangerous period of history that no woman should have to relive - and this film makes that crystal clear," opined CinemaSight.

Film Comment Magazine was also full of praise as they called it "wonderfully subtle and relentlessly harrowing", with the outlet lauding Leigh's direction and Staunton's central performance.

Vera Drake is streaming on Netflix until 16 October.

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Reporter, Digital Spy George is a freelance writer who specialises in Movies and TV. After graduating with a degree in Film Studies and Journalism from De Montfort University, in which he analysed the early works of Richard Linklater for his dissertation, he wrote for several websites for GRV Media.  His film tastes vary from blockbusters like Mission: Impossible and John Wick to international directors such as Paolo Sorrentino and Hirokazu Kore-eda, and has attended both the London and Berlin film festivals.