A young boy questions the definition of marriage after seeing his mother's abusive relationship.


MOTHER'S CRY is used with permission from Josh Bridge. Learn more at https://joshbridge.com.


A young boy, Mel, is growing up with his younger brother Jay in a seemingly normal family. Their home has the hallmarks of modern family life, ranging from soccer to video games and shared meals. But as he witnesses his mother navigate an increasingly abusive relationship, he begins to question just what a perfect marriage and family is.

Poetic in language and image, this compelling short drama is directed by Josh Bridge from a script co-written with London rap artist Melvillous, who wrote the original spoken-word piece that the film is based on. It offers an unflinching portrait of a woman caught in the cycle of abuse, alert to the subtle currents of danger. But it's told from the perspective of her son Jay, making for a deep degree of empathy.

Subtitled as a "visual poem," the film essentially unfurls as a series of resonant, powerful images, interspersed with scenes dramatizing the conflict between Mum and Dad. Though she tries to shield her sons from the abuse, Mel and Jay are keenly aware of what's going on. As the older brother, Mel seems to be especially aware, but as a child, he cannot act, except to help shield his young brother from the emotional and physical violence in their home.

True to its roots in spoken-word storytelling, the voiceover, dialogue and sound design here are just as rich, intricate and thoughtful as the images. The sound design hints at unseen violence, while the voiceover fills the background that led up to this point. But it also offers a window into how Mel processes the abuse he witnesses, and how it eats away at his sense of security and his vision of what familial love and marriage look like.

The collective performance of the film's cast is excellent, and actor Yazmin Belo plays the mother as both despairing but committed to her vision of family life. Young actor David Oguntayo is particularly powerful as Mel, possessing both emotional sensitivity and watchful intelligence. Some of the most quietly devastating moments of the film are when Mel, with exquisite and painful awareness, quickly shields his younger brother from the abuse. But when Mel has to comfort his mother, taking on the parental, protective role for both Jay and her, that we realize how Mel's childhood is slowly being drained away.

MOTHER'S CRY has remarkable power, offering a truly multi-layered, multi-dimensional perspective that captures how domestic violence affects all members of the family, and how it affects the kids who witness it deep within their hearts and souls. Many films that aspire to poeticism have a telling beauty, but this short also possesses an emotional clarity that generates intimacy and a wide-lens perspective.

If we listen carefully, the voiceover tells us a bit more of the narrative beyond the confines of the film. But rarely does domestic violence and abuse have a neat, triumphant ending, especially for the powerless children at the mercy of the grown-ups around them. Mel's own story has no conventional resolution here, but it does end on a sense of hope and joy found in true family love, and the voice within him determined to find the strength and the light that his mother cannot yet summon for herself.