Part of the magic of movies is their ability to take you places you otherwise couldn’t – or wouldn’t – take yourself.

From the fantasy realm of extraterrestrial adventures to the life-and-death setting of a battlefield, film can teach us about ourselves by allowing us to experience the lives of others.

The advance hype on the clumsily titled “Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire” may already have convinced some that this film takes them places they don’t want to go, that it is an experience to avoid – a look into a world of which they want no part. But Lee Daniels’ film is a searing emotional experience, with a note of hope to leaven its sense of despair. It’s solid, imaginative filmmaking, to boot.

Granted, describing the film’s central character, Claireece Precious Jones (Gabourey Sidibe), is already almost a deal-breaker for many filmgoers. As the film begins, Claireece is an obese, illiterate, abused high-school dropout, pregnant with her second child. The film is set in the early 1980s, the cruel days of the Reagan era, which means Claireece is clearly in danger of becoming another poverty statistic, a forgotten person at the mercy of an overwhelmed social-welfare system – a life that’s seemingly over before it’s begun.

But she is saved by the principal of the school that expels her, who suggests an alternative school. There, for the first time, Claireece receives attention from someone who sees her for her potential, rather than as a space-filler or a nuisance. That teacher, Ms. Rain (Paula Patton), challenges Claireece to better herself, to learn to read and write, and does it in a way that pulls Claireece from the pit her life has become.

But it’s not easy, because Precious is being pulled back down daily by her mother, Mary (Mo’Nique). Abuse begets abuse and though we don’t know Mary’s story, we can feel it from the way she treats her daughter. She uses Claireece as her slave and punching bag, to give herself the illusion of power or control in a life where she has little of either.

There isn’t much more plot than that: one teenager’s struggle to take control of her life and overcome odds that are, at minimum, daunting. This is a film that doesn’t shy away from the depths to which human beings can sink, but it also shows the strength and resilience of which we are capable, even at our lowest moments.

Daniels contrasts the grim reality of Claireece’s life with the sparkly teen-age, media-fueled fantasies into which she escapes. In Geoffrey Fletcher’s beautifully wrought script, these are sometimes funny, sometimes jarring, a device that adds poignancy to the reality Claireece is trying to escape.

The anchor of the film is Sidibe’s performance as Claireece. This newcomer begins as guarded and inarticulate; but she opens up, revealing a soul and consciousness that blossom under even the slightest approval or affection.

The other revelation in this film is Mo’Nique, a raucous stand-up comic who disappears into the role of this cruelly abusive mother. Mary could easily be portrayed as a straight-up monster, but Mo’Nique takes it deeper than that. She finds the fear and powerlessness that drive Mary to dominate and mistreat her daughter. She once was Claireece – and hates herself and her daughter for it as a result. Mo’Nique already is being mentioned as Oscar material – and rightly so.

One other casting note: As a critic who verbally dismantled Mariah Carey’s acting in the misbegotten “Glitter” almost a decade ago, I take my hat off to her work here as a tough, weary social worker. Though I saw her name in the opening credits, I didn’t recognize her in this gritty performance – and had to be told it was her afterwards.

Strong emotions make some critics uneasy; they consider them cheap and manipulative, which they can be, though that doesn’t describe this movie. Some already have attacked “Precious” for that, but it says more about the critic than the film.

“Precious” is a powerful social drama telling a gripping personal story. It will put you through the wringer and take your breath away at times – but it is too solid, too true, too real to miss.

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