Disfluency is a short film that follows a young woman through her daily life, from her passive usage of the phrase "I'm sorry," to her being raped and the emotional aftermath. All the while, this habit of apologizing eerily stays with her throughout, begging the question: have we let rape become a cultural disfluency - an expected, almost unnoticeable interruption-in our culture?
Direction
Holliday weaponizes the mundane—every 'sorry' becomes a scream.
Acting
Barer's micro-expressions do more in silence than dialogue could.
Editing
Brutal cuts between everyday apologies and aftermath.
Director
Laura Holliday
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The title refers to speech pathology—interruptions like 'um' or 'uh'—equating assault with verbal filler we barely register. Chilling.
Shot in two days on a $15K budget. The nurse scene was improvised after Barer broke down between takes and Holliday kept rolling.
US
