Red, White And Blue

Young Maddy (Juliet Donenfeld) notices when a customer grabs her mother’s arse in the café. Like the children of many a single mother who scrapes a living by waitressing in the US, she occupies a corner table, drawing with her younger brother and watching the people come and go. She watches the man for a long time; watches her mother momentarily freeze, pot of hot coffee in hand, but then do nothing; watches the boss give a look which implies that nothing can be done. Her mother, Rachel (Brittany Snow) notices her watching, and a shared horror at their vulnerability, and the injustice of it all, passes between them. It will take on an additional dimension by the end of the film.

That evening, back at home, the kinds laugh and play until they are dispatched to bed. Rachel sleeps on a fold-out sofa in the living room. One might observe that the final demand notices stuck to the fridge have become a cinematic cliché, but that in itself says something about the times we’re living in. Later, we’ll have a further insight into Rachel’s struggles when her son’s tooth falls out and she realises she’s going to have to find money for the Tooth Fairy to give him. In the meantime, we watch her look at a map online. She’s in Arkansas. The closest place to get an abortion is across the Missouri border, a seven hour drive away, but Rachel’s situation is desperate.

To say more would be to spoil a film which is built up through layers of small incidents and interactions. It’s a depiction of fragile lives which can be drastically impacted, for good or ill, by the actions of strangers; and of what it means to live in a place with some of the strictest anti-abortion laws in the world. In Arkansas, abortion is only permitted if the life of the pregnant person is at stake, but it doesn’t matter what doctors predict or how far from help that person lives: action can only be taken if the medical emergency has already developed. There are also laws about the crossing of state lines. Rachel is about to take a tremendous risk. She does it only because she feels that she has no other option.

Shortlisted for a Best Live Action Short Oscar, this wonderfully acted, hard hitting film doesn’t waste time posturing but focuses on character, at how people try to hold it together when lives which would be hard enough already are made harder still by remote legislators. It’s not, as such, an angry piece of work, but it will leave many viewers feeling that way.

Red, White And Blue is now available to rent online.