In Irina Palm, a middle-aged woman goes to work in the sex trade to finance her grandson's medical treatment.

Maggie (Marianne Faithfull, made, against all the odds, to look dowdy) is a widow with one son and one grandson, and not much else in her life.

She doesn't have a great relationship with her daughter-in-law, who thinks Maggie is around too much.

She has friends in her village, but there's a lot of petty rivalry and gossip.

Maggie really adores her grandson, Ollie (Corey Burke) but the child is seriously ill and he's going to die unless he can get to Australia for a new medical procedure.

There's no money for Ollie's care. No one in Maggie's family can get a bank loan. Where will the money come from for the airfare to Australia and a hotel once the family gets there?

Maggie attempts to get a job, and she's told bluntly by the employment counsellor that she's too old. She has no work history and no skills. As it happens, she's also naive, and when she sees a "Hostess Wanted" sign outside a club called Sexy World, she really thinks they're hiring a hostess.

"That's a euphemism for whore," her future employer tells her.

Sexy World, with its bright, flesh coloured walls, is the first hint of colour in the movie.

Maggie is stunned when she finds out what the job is at Sexy World. She is shocked. Then, desperate to help her grandson, she is resigned to do what she must. She returns the next day and applies for the job. The salary is very good. The club offers strippers, lap dances and XXX movies, but Maggie's particular corner of Sexy World allows her to remain anonymous.

Can a staid housewife do this type of work? Her boss, Miki (Miki Manojlovic) decides to let her work for a few days and see how she does.

She does wonderfully. Maggie is so good at what she does that she earns herself a fulltime job and a stage name: Irina Palm. She overcomes her embarrassment. She has found something she's good at, she's making enough money to help her grandson, and her determination is impressive.

Miki isn't quite sure what to think of his new employee. He's intrigued by her. Maggie's mean-spirited lady friends in the village find out she has a job -- not that they know what the job is -- and they are surprised.

One comments, snidely, "A job? Maggie can't do anything, can she?"

You could say Irina Palm is a story about maternal love and what a mom would do for her family, but it's also a coming-of-age story for a very late bloomer. Through her peculiar new job, Maggie becomes confident, gaining courage and self respect and losing her prevailing sense of worthlessness.

She is no longer cowed by the village gossips. And she's not ashamed of her work.

Irina Palm has been a big hit at various film festivals in the last year, mostly because Marianne Faithfull and Miki Manojlovic are so good in their roles.

The movie is really about them, despite the sick grandson storyline. Irina Palm is often very funny, although it avoids all the obvious humour around Maggie's sex trade job, but it's also uneven, a bit slow at times and obvious at others. Luckily, the performances will keep you watching, and make Irina Palm well worth seeing.

(This film is rated 14-A)

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