squatter

In “The Lady in the Van,” the tragedy of Smith’s odorous squatter Mary Shepherd is revealed only after her surprisingly touching death.

She excelled on stage and screen in Alan Bennett’s “The Lady in the Van,” playing a crotchety squatter with an imperious sense of entitlement.

“In addition to Benny Safdie, who was so unsettling as ‘The Curse’s’ creepy-sad reality TV producer, here’s hoping voters also nominate Barkhad Abdi, who was mesmerizingly stoic as a local squatter named Abshir,” says Kristen Baldwin.

This was a squatter camp outside Johannesburg in 1994 as South Africa prepared to vote in its first non-racial elections.

As the sun rose, the squatter camp gradually vanished under the earth.