COERCE | Omeleto

A young man tries to leave an abusive relationship.


COERCE is used with permission from Rory Wilson. Learn more at   / rory__wilson  .


Sam and Morgan are parents of a young child, Theo. They had a rough start as young parents, with Sam's tentative and skeptical reaction to Morgan's unplanned pregnancy. But they soldiered forward anyway despite their problems as a couple.

As Theo gets older, Sam grows into his role as a father and loves his son deeply. But his relationship with Morgan only gets more difficult. As the dynamic becomes more emotionally and physically violent, he must decide whether to leave for his safety or stay for the sake of his son.

Directed and written by Rory Wilson, this powerful short drama examines the subject of intimate partner violence from a new angle, from the perspective of a man being punished and controlled by his female partner. Beyond the agony and suffering of feeling torn between the need for escape and the desire to keep his family together, Sam's experience is also complicated by being a man in a situation where the victim is stereotypically a woman. It uniquely isolates him, one that imprisons him even more.

Visually striking and intimate in capturing Sam's subjectivity, the film begins in a jagged, disorienting way, opening with Sam being led into a police car and an introspective narration wondering how his son will grow up without his mother. Shuffling between past and present, we see shards of images and scenes: a confused Sam talking to his mother, conversations between Sam and Morgan, scenes of their togetherness and conflict, shoes stomping on Sam's glasses.

Very often images are shot at canted angles and in close-up, offering viewers a disorienting, Cubist-like intimacy, as well as a representation of Sam's compromised vision after his glasses are broken -- an event that proves forebodingly symbolic as the narrative and the relationship proceeds. As the story unfolds, the shattered pieces fall into place, offering a clear and disturbing snapshot of a troubled relationship, one that goes from difficult to cruel through a web of lies, manipulation and coercive control.

As Sam, actor Matt Rolls movingly portrays a young man increasingly bewildered and cowed by his partner, scared to say anything and clearly loving towards his son, who is the incentive for his staying. Actor Laura Masters also excels in modulating Morgan's coldness and punishment of Sam, beginning the character as a sphinxlike enigma and then slowly unmasking her as controlling and manipulative. That slow drip of toxicity happens so subtly at first that it literally and figuratively chips away at Sam's sense of self -- until he finds himself in a drastic situation and must decide once and for all what to do.

According to ManKind UK, one in four women and one in 6-7 men are victims of domestic violence in their lifetime. And more men than women in this situation consider ending their lives, a point brought to vivid life by COERCE. With such powerful, intimate storytelling, the film helps us understand why men stay silent and how desperate they must be when they finally speak up or get help -- and why we need to question the dictates of masculinity that penalize men for human vulnerability and suffering.