An 18 year old girl called Joy has gone missing. Another girl called Helen is a few weeks away from leaving her care home. Helen is asked to 'play' Joy in a police reconstruction that will retrace Joy's last known movements. Joy had everything. A loving family, a boyfriend, a bright future. Helen, parent-less, has lived in institutions all her life and has never been close to anyone. Gradually Helen begins to immerse herself into the role, visiting the people and places that Joy knew; quietly and carefully insinuating her way into the lost girl's life. But is Helen trying to find out what happened to Joy that day, or is she searching for her own identity?
Acting
Townsend's blank-slate intensity — she becomes absence itself.
Direction
Desperate Optimists' signature static frames, deadpan dread.
Director
Christine Molloy
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Annie Townsend was a complete unknown, cast from an open call in Glasgow — her rawness was the point.
Part of the 'Desperate Optimists' cycle exploring performance and disappearance; preceded by earlier shorts using the same deadpan, tableau style.
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