Rita, Sue and Bob Too (1987) Spoiler-Free Summary – What It's About

In the grey‑washed suburbs of Bradford, the film settles into a world where drab council houses press up against more polished middle‑class streets, creating a palpable contrast that feels both intimate and unsettling. The everyday sounds of a working‑class community—bustling markets, clattering buses, laughter spilling from cramped kitchens—mix with a lingering sense of yearning for something beyond the soot‑stained walls. A dry, observational humor runs alongside a raw social realism, giving the picture a tone that is simultaneously witty, uneasy, and oddly hopeful.

R​ita and S​ue are two teenage girls on the cusp of adulthood, sharing a cramped flat and a friendship forged by shared hardship and an unrelenting desire to escape their circumstances. They take on babysitting work for a seemingly respectable couple, stepping into a home that feels like a different world—cleaner, more spacious, and tinged with the promises of middle‑class stability. Their employer, B​ob, is a charismatic but weary man whose own marriage shows signs of strain, and whose presence introduces a ripple of intrigue that disrupts the girls’ routine.

The connection between the three is charged with an uneasy mix of curiosity, attraction, and power imbalance. B​ob offers the girls a glimpse of a life beyond their council estate, while R​ita and S​ue bring a youthful boldness that both excites and unsettles him. Their interactions are laced with a tentative flirtation that hints at deeper complications, setting the stage for a delicate dance of desire and exploitation. The film watches this triangle closely, letting the audience feel the tension that builds in ordinary moments—a shared drink, a lingering glance, a quiet conversation that suggests more than what is said.

As the story unfolds, the stark environment and the characters’ restless ambitions keep the audience poised on the edge of possibility. The film invites viewers to contemplate how far the girls might go to break free from the constraints of their world, and what the cost of such a pursuit could be, all while maintaining a balance between humor and the stark realities of the lives it portrays.