A film having as its theme incest, rape, family cruelty and abasement is by its nature a difficult film to view. This film portrays the life of Claireece "Precious" Jones played by Gabourey Sidibe in her debut performance. Precious is a sixteen-year-old who is pregnant with her second child fathered by her own father. We see an abused, overweight teenager who is preyed on, not only by her very abusive parents, but by the hoodlums in her slum neighbourhood.

Yet she is not completely downtrodden. She attacks a youth who is making life difficult for a white teacher she admires. She can escape to her fantasy world when reality is too hard to bear. Strangely she gets good marks at school, though her mother barks that school will not do her any good and that her only hope is welfare. She likes math, but cannot read or write. Her guidance counsellor puts her in an alternate program, "Each one, Teach one", where she is exposed to a group of young women who are trying to get their GED. They provide some comic relief to an otherwise grim tale.

In this group, Precious has some success. She meets a 'tough love' teacher, Ms. Rain (Paula Patton), who shows her love by letting her stay at her home until she can arrange more permanent lodgings. Precious becomes more confident. She spars skillfully with her social worker, played by Mariah Carey, and faces her formidable mother, Mary (Mo'Nique). Mary shows some glimmer of humanity in the final interview with the social worker but what she reveals gives Precious the courage to walk away with her two babies and start a new life on her own. How long that life will last will be determined by whether she is HIV positive since her father has died of AIDS.

The story is based on the novel, Push, by Sapphire, a Harlem poet. Both Mo'Nique and Gabourey Sidibe won Sundance and Golden Globe awards and Mo'Nique won an Oscar for best supporting actress. The film was the People's Choice at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2009.

This film is 109 minutes and available on DVD.