When your father's a monster and your sanctuary gets stolen—childhood as psychological warfare.
A girl's childhood in the 1950s with her brutal alcoholic father. This unrelieved melodrama examines the nature of a child's experience of a domineering, volatile alcoholic parent. It is based on an autobiographical account by Carol-Ann Courtney. At first, the girl has some diversion from her intense and frightening relationship with her father in the person of her maternal grandmother, but that outlet is soon closed when her father bans her from their home.
Acting
Patrick Bergin's terrifying volatility; Griffiths' wordless resilience.
Direction
Francis traps you in claustrophobic 1950s domesticity.
Director
Karl Francis
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Based on Carol-Ann Courtney's autobiography; the real Caroline grew up to become a social worker specializing in child protection.
Karl Francis shot this for BBC Wales with a documentary crew's intimacy—he wanted audiences to feel like helpless witnesses, not voyeurs.
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