FAQ

Sixteen-year-old Harlem teenager Claireece Precious Jones (Gabourey Sidibe), overweight, illiterate, and pregnant for the second time with her father's child, gets a chance for a better education when she is transferred into the alternative school "Each One Teach One" on the recommendation of her math teacher, who sees in her a special aptitude for mathematics. Precious' abusing mother, Mary (Mo'Nique), who only lives to drink, smoke, and watch TV, wants Precious to apply for more welfare, thinking her too fat and stupid to do anything else. The alternative school's teacher Miss Blu Rain (Paula Patton) believes in Precious and tries to help her escape from the grips of her abusive background.

Precious is based on the 1996 novel Push by American author Sapphire (Ramona Loften). The novel was adapted for the movie by screenwriter Geoffrey Fletcher.

Mary comes to visit at the halfway house in order to tell Precious that her daddy is dead and to ask Precious to move back in with her. Precious doesn't answer so Mary takes her request to Mrs Weiss (Mariah Carey) at the Home Advancement Center. At Precious' next visit with Mrs Weiss, she steals her file and learns that they want her to go on workfare. Using her math skills, Precious figures that her salary will amount to $2.12 per hour, that she will only be able to see her son Abdul (Cory Davis) on Sundays, and that she would have to drop out of "Each One Teach One", thus, she would never earn her diploma (GED). Mrs Weiss arranges a session for Mary to talk with Precious about moving back in with her. Mary is forced to describe how Precious' father has been molesting Precious since she was three years old. Precious remains silent through it all, so Mary leaves the room and returns with Precious' daughter Mongo (Quisha Powell), whom she drops in Precious' lap. Precious finally stands up and tells Mrs Weiss that she can't handle all of this. She turns to Mary and tells her that she won't be seeing her anymore. Then, Precious and Mongo walk out of the room. In the final scene, Precious holds Abdul in one arm and holds Mongo's hand with the other as all three walk down the street together. In the background can be heard the lyrics to "It Took a Long Time" sung by LaBelle.

Originally the film was called Push, like the original novel, but there was another movie released that same year called Push (2009), so the title was changed to Precious. However, another movie called Precious turned out to be in development at the same time. To avoid more confusion, the subtitle Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire was added.

Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry are both executive producers. The two were not originally executive producers, but attached themselves after the film played at the Toronto International Film Festival. They are providing financial support for the promotion and release of the film, which was produced and completed before their involvement.