I've always rated Samantha Morton and I've liked the way she has always seemed to play slightly detached characters. You can see this outside-looking-in quality in roles in Minority Report and in In America and in Morvern Caller. But however much I like someone's work I always shudder a bit when I hear that they've been given a budget and charged with making their own film. More often than not these things turn out to be vanity projects and follies of self-indulgence. Thankfully The Unloved is nothing of the sort and provided as powerful a two hours of television as I've seen in a long time.

Related: Our Red Riding category.

The Unloved is part of Channel 4's Britain's Forgotten Children season, which presents a range of programming and views on adoption, fostering and residential care.

The Unloved is undoubtedly the jewel in the season's crown, and tells the story of 11-year-old Lucy. Having suffered at the hands of a physically abusive father (the ever-brilliant Robert Carlyle) and unwanted by her estranged mother (Susan Lynch), Lucy is shipped off to a chaotic childrens' home on the outskirts of Nottingham. There, amidst the chaos and dysfunction, Lucy does at least find friendship and some sort of base to anchor herself. But a resolution to her situation? Room mate Lauren shoplifts, substance abuses and is sexually abused by one of the care home workers, and social workers are hamstrung by enormous amounts of bureaucracy. No matter how much Lucy starts to find some sort of sanctuary (however simulated) and no matter much her experience have made her so strong for someone of her own age, you do get this heartbreaking revelation while watching the character that, at the end of it all, she's just a kid. A kid, like any of us once were, who needed love, a home and support. Whether Lucy - and others like her in the real world - gets this support is what the film... well, the film is extraordinarily balanced, but it does make the audience ask the question: what is being done?

Stylistically and tonally, The Unloved feels a bit like something Shane Meadows would make, and not just because it's based in Nottingham. There was a really natural feel to the acting and the scenes, and dialogue (provided by Channel 4 go-to guy Tony Grisoni, who we last saw adapting Red Riding for the channel) was very sparse. This film was all about the images, and shots like the flecks of dust caught in shards of light, the fringe of a lampshade and the close-up twinkle of Christmas tinsel all demonstrated an almost photographic eye for detail. Morton explained that this parade of snatched detail was intended to convey Lucy's interior experience.

I did fear that if the film carried on like it did in the first 10 minutes (which was basically an unsettling collection of filmic photographs) that this would be a pretty but empty film, but it soon settled down and the story began to unravel. We saw this kind of photographic detail in the Red Riding, and Our John said he found it annoying. But here I think it works well.

Before I sign off, a special mention to Molly Windsor, who put in an astonishing performance as Lucy. She looked a little bit like Morton (or at least how you would imagine Morton would look like at 11) and was just spookily brilliant - tough, sad, vulnerable, confused, strong. As Lucy room mate, Lauren Socha was also terrific.

Yes, we were treated to a screening on a nice big cinema screen in the bowels of the Channel 4 building and were treated to an audience with (an extremely articulate, passionate, emotional and really personable) Samantha Morton, who explained the background and the personal implications of making such a film. These things take you less out of the objective realms of thought, but, genuinely, I thought while I was watching it that The Unloved was a really strong piece of work. A bit disjointed in place and a bit too long, but really strong and powerful.

Look out for it in a couple of weeks time on Channel 4.