Khalil, Shaun, A Woman Under the Influence

Sharon Lockhart's debut film from 1994 is divided into three parts. All parts are linked in showing the progression of a devastating skin disease of two ten-year-old boys which is successively revealed to be the progression of a skilfully applied special effects make-up. Shot against coloured backdrops, the first sections show portraits of the boys who are introduced by preceding titles as Khalil and Shaun. The third section is a dramatic sequence based on one of the last scenes in John Cassavetes's film A Woman Under the Influence (1974). Lockhart refrains from reproducing the scene literally. Instead, she places and collapses several moments into one, amplifying the main theme of the film - the attempt to pretend that everything is okay. Shaun is presented with his face horribly disfigured by blisters and wounds. His mother's pledges of future happiness thus become rather ominous.

Director

Sharon Lockhart