Aren’t
you glad smart phones and social media weren’t around when you were in high
school? Unfortunately, cyber-bullying isn’t even the worst of what the
physically and emotionally awkward Iona endures from her false frienemies. She
and her meek, hunchbacked mother Lyn were hoping for a new start in a new town,
but the hostile welcome they receive will strain their formerly close
relationship in Deborah Haywood’s Pin
Cushion, which
screens during the AFI’s 2017 European Union Film Showcase.
Iona
and Lyn love birds and cats and stuff with lace and little cake things. Dad is
out of the picture and never remarked on, so it is just them. Iona is eager to
make friends, but through her imagination, she has visualized fast friendships
that maybe aren’t so realistic. In fact, they leave her vulnerable to the
predatory manipulations of Keeley, the queen bee of her class. Just for kicks, Keeley
sets her up for a fall, leaving her a disgraced social pariah. Sadly, Lyn fares
little better with her efforts to make friends among the snotty, rough-hewn neighbors.
Ugh,
this is often a hard film to watch, especially in light of the horrific story
of cyber-harassment that culminated in the suicide of adult actress August Ames,
who committed the sin of opting out of a gig with an actor who also performs in
gay videos (apparently, that side of the business has a reputation for less frequent testing, which her tormentors vehemently denied). It is a story that is crossing over into the
mainstream, because it illustrates the soulless vindictiveness and supreme
self-righteousness of the cyber-lynchers.
Now
some of her trolls are trying to backpedal and claim they simply wanted to
offer information to counter her misconceptions, but they were still piling on—and
they had to know it. Their tone may have varied, but they wanted to make her
feel shamed and alone. They succeeded. Human beings can only take so much. We can
see both mother and daughter reaching that point in Pin Cushion, which is a harrowing spectacle to witness.
Joanna
Scanlon is a well established British screen thesp (she was one of the best
things about Ralph Fiennes’ just sort of okay The Invisible Woman), but her performance as Lyn is definitely something
of a higher order. She is heartbreaking and exasperating, but ultimately quite unsettling.
Likewise, Lily Newmark’s portrayal of Iona definitely tips her as an emerging
talent to be reckoned with (like a young Saoirse Ronan). Frankly, Sacha
Cordy-Nice also shows future potential star power, as her tormentor Keeley.
Haywood
intriguingly uses fairy tale motifs throughout the film, but she takes it in a dark,
Brothers Grimm direction. Yet, the human emotions and human cruelties are
always very real. There are very light fantastical elements, mostly rooted in dreams,
but this film definitely holds a mirror up to modern social norms and pathologies.
That is why it stings. This is the kind of film that is riveting to watch once,
but nobody will ever want to re-visit. Highly recommended for patrons of social
issue films, Pin Cushion screens
tomorrow (12/10) and Thursday (12/14), as part of the AFI’s annual EU Film
Showcase.
