ABOUT
The Cracks follows the emotional journey of Anna as she copes with a violation; of her body, of her trust, and of her mind. As the cracks begin to show, only her little love, Tio, can save her from total self-destruction.
Anna has been raped. Her stomach curdles as she recalls her voice, cracking under the weight of what had just happened. Anna is thirty-one year old single mother to Tio, who is just three. They live in a modest two-bed terrace with messy cluttered rooms and happier memories. Turning to self-destructive behaviours, Anna cocoons herself in alcohol and self-harm to cope. The cracks begin to show and, finally, Anna breaks, collapsing into a mess of tears and anger. Through the mundanity of life and the perpetuity of love, Anna claws her way out of the darkness.
Anna’s stomach curdles as she remembers her voice cracking under the weight of what had just happened.
Waking to a rancid weight sitting in her stomach. Anna’s memories are broken, shattered with wine.
Anna stands at the bathroom mirror, her eyes pink with aged tears, she washes her hands, a thick streak of blood is running down her index finger. Anna feels waves of grief and shame as her memories intrude.
As the days go on, cracks form in Anna’s psyche and the trauma continues to haunt her. Feeling broken, she does what she can to get through the days. Warmed by Tio’s innocent light she slowly finds her own light through the ever-encroaching darkness.
Director's Statement
This film encapsulates the difficult feelings that rape can bring with it, but it will also demonstrate the hope that Anna feels once she has processed these emotions.
As Anna regresses back into childhood she sits in the warmth of the womb symbolised by her bath water and her bed. This film creates a child in Anna that we want to be nurtured, and her son’s love nurtures her.
The themes of this film are not just the obvious complicated emotions of rape trauma but those of adult isolation, loneliness and vulnerability.
Anna copes with her feelings in a destructive way, hurting herself and putting her child at risk, moments that may have demonised her in another context. The film will draw on the contradictory nature of human reaction and the duality of the perception of rape.
This is an autobiographical piece about my own feelings of confusion and self-doubt. I feel it is important to showcase the confusion of dealing with date rape; a rape in in which the victim feels haunted by her doubt. "...does this mean it's my fault?" repeats in the mind of the survivor, interrupting everyday life with a thrust of forceful flashbacks. The Cracks highlights that rapists are just normal people, often people we know and trust, not the monsters we are led to believe.
ANNA
by Katherine Hall
JAMES
by Paul Richards
TIO
by Benjiman Hall