About a Girl (Brian Percival, 2001) is a 9-minute short film which follows a girl recounting her childhood as she walks the streets of a grey, industrial Manchester. The nameless girl informs the viewer of her disdainful upbringing in the city, involving the relationship between herself and her divorced parents. We also learn of the girl’s aspirations of forming a pop group with her friends. The film ends with a dramatic shock twist when the girl reveals that she has become “dead good at hiding things” from her mother and tosses the bag she had been carrying the into the river, which is revealed to contain a dead baby.
The film utilises a variety of techniques in order to convey a sense of gritty authenticity to the viewer. The girl’s monologues are interspersed with small snippets of her partaking in the current anecdote she is recalling, providing the viewer with a clear image of her life. The girl also looks straight into the camera as it follows her from the front, addressing the viewer directly and breaking the 4th wall – forming a deeper connection between the girl and the audience. The urban streets are polluted and litter-filled, with monotone colour grading applied to accentuate the poor environment the girl lives in. After the burden of the dead baby is lifted from the girl at the end of the film, a noticeably vibrant colour grading is applied – demonstrating that a weight has been lifted off her shoulders.
In my opinion, the film’s twist purely serves as a brief ‘shock value’ moment, instilling a visceral reaction within the viewer. There is little to no example of foreshadowing prior to the reveal, perhaps due to the short run time of the film. I did not receive much fulfilment after watching About a Girl, but can appreciate the social realism it portrayed throughout. The film demonstrated to me the effect that a surprising twist can have on the viewer.
Otis Morley’s A-Level Film Studies Blog 