Withering Flowers

The message of Bryan Ferguson’s short is as hard-hitting as the briefly glimpsed acts of brutality it documents.

A woman sits waiting for her husband to come home, while flowers sit drooping in a vase. You know she’s scared, yet she seems almost resigned to it - her face bruised and cut from previous encounters. Like the wolf in a fairytale (Gerald Bonner) is larger than life and yet his violence is all too realistic.

Ferguson uses a handheld camera, moving swiftly, confusingly, to mirror the madness as the beating begins, lending the scenes an additional emotional impact. It’ll make you think twice about ignoring that argument you can hear through the walls from next door.