#CinemaJourney
#LittleDisasters
#LittleDisasters
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Short filmTranscript
00:00Jess just tried to abduct Betsy.
00:02I'm the protector. I believe you.
00:05I think that Jess is suffering from a thing called perinatal OCD,
00:09probably since Betsy was born.
00:11Did you know that your husband confided in a female friend, Mrs. Charlotte Hinman?
00:15Did it make you angry, Jess?
00:17Are things really that bad?
00:18I want you to come home tonight.
00:19We just don't fucking bother coming back at all.
00:21What happened that you would leave your 10-month-old baby and your young son?
00:25How did you fracture her skull, Jess?
00:26I didn't.
00:28We feel we have sufficient evidence to convince the CPS
00:30to charge you with child abduction and child endangerment.
00:41Mommy's a bit upset.
00:43Mommy's a bit upset.
00:45Mommy's a bit upset.
00:47Oh, Betsy, did you do a smelly poo?
00:51Oh, it's okay.
00:52Mommy will be back in a minute.
00:57I'm gonna go and rescue George.
01:27I'm gonna go and rescue George.
01:28All right.
01:29Thanks a lot.
01:32Ed, it's Andrew.
01:38Hey, Ed.
01:39Hey, Ed.
01:40Just one minute.
01:41I'm just gonna put you on speaker.
01:43The other's here.
01:43All right.
01:47She's been charged.
01:49Abduction and child cruelty.
01:52I'm so sorry, Ed.
01:53They got proof that Jess left Frankie and Betsy unattended on Friday night,
01:58leaving the children alone.
01:59I mean, these are serious charges, Ed.
02:02Um, do they know why?
02:04She went to buy medicine from the corner shop.
02:07Their theory is that Betsy was most likely hurt before that.
02:12Police refused her bail.
02:13She's deemed a flight risk thanks to her US passport.
02:16But I'll be making a further bail application
02:19at her first court appearance tomorrow in the morning.
02:24Oh, God.
02:34You okay?
02:35Not really, no.
02:37Um...
02:41I really want to believe that she was ill when this happened.
02:45Um...
02:46But what if, in the heat of the moment,
02:51she knew what she was doing?
02:53Maybe she just snapped.
03:23So...
03:53So...
04:23So...
04:38You never know what's happening at home.
04:40Not when parents are pushed to their limits.
04:43I know that from my work and from my own childhood.
04:51How could I have been so blind?
04:53How did I not see that from the start?
04:57Or does every one of us have the capacity
04:59to make a single catastrophic decision
05:01that could blow up our entire life?
05:11When something like this hits your closest friends,
05:14the shockwaves ripple through every relationship in the group.
05:19And you just hope you come through it intact.
05:23So...
05:43No, not yet.
05:43We have to wait here until we're called.
05:45Is Ed here yet?
05:46I'm sure he'll be here any minute.
05:48Unless he's not coming.
05:50Uh, Liz, after we've had opening statements,
05:53I'll call you up to give you a character witness.
05:55In the likely event that you're not allowed
05:57to return home with the children, we thought...
05:59We thought that you could stay with me, Nick.
06:04Will you?
06:07That would help.
06:11Okay.
06:12Great.
06:13Okay.
06:18Okay, it's time.
06:19In addition to child abduction,
06:22you're also charged with cruelty to Betsy Carisford,
06:24a person under 16,
06:26in a manner likely to cause unnecessary suffering
06:29and injury to health,
06:31contrary to Section 1 of the Children and Young Persons Act
06:34of 1933.
06:41Do you plead guilty or not guilty?
06:43It's time.
06:48Not guilty.
06:51As you've entered a plea of not guilty,
06:53we will proceed with the mode and venue of trial.
06:55Mr. Hinman, are you making a bail application?
06:58Your Worship, I would like to argue for bail.
07:00My client has no previous convictions.
07:02She has strong community ties
07:04and is willing to comply with any conditions
07:05that the court may see fit.
07:07Mr. Hinman, I would like to argue for bail.
07:09My client has no previous convictions.
07:11I would like to argue for bail.
07:14My client has no previous convictions
07:16that the court may see fit.
07:21The defendant, Jessica Carisford,
07:23will be staying with me at my home address,
07:27and I can confirm that it is a stable and secure place
07:32for the duration of the bail period.
07:35And I'd also like to say that beyond my observations
07:38as a doctor treating Betsy,
07:40that Jess has always been a devoted mother and she's she's a kind and thoughtful friend
07:48um in fact she's she's the uh the person that i would go to for advice on parenting
07:54my own children so i can i can honestly tell you that all of this is completely out of character
07:59thank you dr burgess
08:15we have considered the arguments and bail has been granted with the following conditions
08:21mrs carisford you must reside at dr liz burgess home address and have no unsupervised contact
08:26with any of your children you are however permitted two supervised visits per week
08:33additionally you must surrender your passport to the police you understand these conditions
08:36mrs carison yes your worship very well we will adjourn the case until the 18th of september
08:47for pre-trial review ensure you attend on that date mrs caris
08:59that's not enough you must follow the provisions of your bail supervised visits only while they're
09:05still investigating betsy's injury we have to play by the rules i'm so sorry
09:22i wasn't sure you'd come
09:30i don't understand how you left them on their own
09:36i just wasn't coping i'm so sorry
09:45but you left them alone in the house and and and you never let them out of this i just needed a
09:51few minutes so why have you been lying to me i still don't even know how betsy was hurt and i
10:00keep telling myself that she must have fallen over in her playpen that it was an accident
10:06was it or was it something else
10:18i don't know
10:30rob
10:30rob where are you we need to talk
10:40oh hi um uh who are you i'm sorry uh this is my other half i haven't had a chance to break the
10:45news yet anyway go on what were you saying news about what nice quiet street decent size rooms
10:51yeah personally i think if we are not selling this house we haven't got a choice go on well
10:55you can't not without my say-so well actually according to your husband we're not married
11:00well according i'm sorry can you just go no because he hasn't finished go on don't leave
11:07i want you to leave what are you doing i i think i should go
11:20you cannot sell our home well i can actually i can do what i like because it's my name on
11:25the deeds look we can't afford to live here right and this move out of london it's going to be good
11:30for all of us what move out of london well i've already spoken to my mum and dad oh my god i'm
11:34not moving in with your parents our kids are happy here our friends are here fucking friends who
11:41don't help us when we need it like the carisfords and the hintmans and all the other arrogant pricks
11:46at the school gates who think they're better than me no i need this money i need it for the business
11:51business you're full of shit you couldn't hold down a real job that's why you've got this business
11:56it was they made you redundant when they sold through your crap it was a restructure oh yeah
12:01yeah yeah look what would you know about having a job don't you patronize me you didn't want me
12:06to work you wanted me here at home looking after our children well let's hope they don't grow up
12:10to be as mediocre and aimless as their mum oh you bastard you stripped away my ambition
12:18my independence you were the reason i'm in this position don't blame me for your boring
12:22existence i never saw you complaining when you were spending my money you're the one with the
12:26chip on your shoulder walking around like a big man when actually do you know what you are rob
12:31you're just a sad middle-aged prick i'm not moving okay yeah all right well then stay but
12:38you'll be on your own okay because i'm taking the kids with me yeah yeah i'm gonna prove you're an
12:43unfit mum you can cope on your own i mean look at you no job no house you haven't worked in years
12:53and who'd fucking want you
13:14i'm gonna find you someone to talk to
13:19someone who can make sense of everything you're going through
13:25thank you
13:31uh
13:38she's uh just unpacking how long is she staying um till the trial that could be a whole year
13:50don't you think this is a bit insane what is what about the children i mean she's got serious mental
13:56health issues it's not like we can't trust around the kids i don't want to be the bad
14:00guy here but she has been charged and they still don't know how bessie got the skull fracture
14:05there's no evidence anyone with perinatal ocd ever hurt their child and where else could she go
14:10she's got no family over here she's not allowed to go home with the kids what could i do okay
14:15you feel guilty and i get it but let's come on there's writing a wrong and
14:21that's going completely overboard a wrong i'm sorry
14:45you look exhausted
14:51so
15:00she was released on bail then yeah that's not looking good
15:11so that's it they think she did it
15:13it turned out to sound so delighted i'm not
15:21god no it's it's a terrible situation for all of them
15:37what are the police saying now
15:40well the police are convinced that she never wanted betsy
15:44and that she hurt her baby under extreme distress because her marriage was imploding
15:52absolutely ridiculous
15:54uh there's something i need to say for the record
16:12sounds ominous
16:17it's about ed
16:25well it's over
16:37nothing really happened
16:44i i'd rather not know the details
16:46are you sure unquestionably
16:58because i feel that you've just no i mean it charlotte if it's over i don't want to know
17:16so
17:38hey hello are you ready
17:42all right okay so we are absolutely sure she's ready to be discharged it's going to be fine yeah
17:56this is good news ed betsy's coming home aren't you
18:00i'm sorry it's been so tough for you and jess over the past two weeks
18:04how is she the house guest well it's good that she's talking to a specialist
18:10but it's early days yeah come on then you here we go right so you remember i said betsy's got to
18:17keep on taking these anti-seizure meds for the next few weeks you'll be okay we've got a whole
18:22rota worked out for you you will not be on your own okay all right let's do it
18:31it's um easier when parents don't fight you at every step isn't it
18:36hmm bye-bye then betsy bye-bye let's go
18:57hi betsy hi
19:01hi
19:03hi my baby yeah oh she looks so beautiful doesn't she
19:15oh look can you show me a tooth
19:20hi
19:23this is back in the hospital
19:30oh
19:48oh hi frankie is that in i'd like a word i know he usually comes home early on a friday
19:55you okay
19:56okay what's wrong frankie what's up come here frankie come inside
20:07frankie
20:18frankie's completely shut down i just keep turning it over and over
20:23betsy's accident the fact that i left them
20:27i know frankie couldn't have dropped her he's too little to reach her when she's in the playpen
20:36it's driving himself mad trying to figure it out
20:44how are things going between you two
20:45um you know he's blowing hot and cold he either treats me like a stranger or is trying to reassure
20:54me that i've got nothing to worry about about the trial i'm more worried about frankie that's
20:59taking him to the therapist he won't talk to her for us do you think frankie knows something
21:04i don't know what else to think
21:14ed who is you what are you doing here this is the school gates i'm surprised you even
21:18know where they are oh come on i'm not that bad no good daddy
21:23look um i know you've got the trial coming up and everything but i just wanted to say i am
21:28pushing ahead with my record label i can still do with your help on that right yeah yeah i'm
21:36but i'm sorry i'm sorry i dropped the ball things have been a bit brutal okay because i mean you
21:42know you've been going to the hospital and you know we've all just been hoping betsy gets better
21:50that's right
21:53look um get that paperwork to me i'll sign it
22:03thanks mate
22:11so how are you with the therapy and the medication that's that's all helping is it
22:22it is it's helping it's the waiting that's killing me i could have a whole year of this
22:29well andrew said he's gonna push for an earlier trial date so i'm just saying it might not be too
22:35long i know but tell what you know i could possibly spend years in prison
22:40separated from my family that's an absolute worst case scenario jess
22:47i'm sorry i'm so sorry it's come to this
22:59frankie will tell you what happened when he's ready
23:05so
23:17this is horrific remind me why we're doing this
23:20because we agreed that doing new things together would spark more joy
23:26this isn't new been done it for years
23:35right so we're leaving the curtains at the carpets and the light switches
23:42but checking the micro right yeah okay that'll be the photographer
24:06so
24:11would now be a good moment to tell you that i didn't go through the egg retrieval
24:16or any of the other appointments
24:20i know i said that it wasn't successful but i left before they could do it
24:28i just couldn't face it and i thought it was best to be honest
24:31charlotte i'm happy with our family as it is it'll just be george he's a lovely boy
24:39got a lot to be thankful for
24:44thank you
24:47come on this doesn't work if it's only me you have to do your bit as well
25:01so
25:05you're a good man
25:22try not to worry about him i just wish he'd speak to me
25:30he'll come around
25:32he will
25:47i miss us
25:51i miss everything
26:01calm down
26:24come on we won't stay long quick bite to eat a couple of drinks for you
26:29we'll be in our pajamas by 9 30.
26:33hiya what's she doing here i have no idea you can do this
26:48you okay
26:55mel invited me
26:58just thought it was about time that we cleared the air
27:11okay
27:21i owe you an apology jess um i know i haven't been as supportive as i should have been given
27:28everything we've gone through but i do want you to know that i never meant to hurt you
27:34so what were you doing with my husband then
27:43uh yeah i admit that i allowed my affection for ed to you know what just start with the
27:52bullshit lawyer talk okay yeah you're right i'm i'm not being entirely honest i
28:02look i've known ed since since i was the kind of person i think you would actually like
28:11and i i just needed to remember who that person was you know i just
28:16i think i just wanted to believe that ed still saw me that way you know i needed an escape and i
28:28thought for one very brief misguided moment that maybe ed was that escape and i am sorry
28:37charlotte you propositioned him while i was sitting in a police cell nothing happened
28:43i was at my lowest point and you swiped right in nothing happened
28:55ed loves you
28:59only you
29:00only you
29:09okay here you go could we have um another glass
29:16so after weeks of bullshit more than usual i believe that
29:34rob's finally admitted that we've run out of money what does that mean um
29:39um he's decided to sell the house and um since it's in his name i don't have a choice
29:50he made that very clear that's awful so i'm moving out of london and um
29:58this will probably be the last time i'm sitting here looking at your
30:00gorgeous faces no figure it out yeah
30:31um
30:48social services have given this to us
30:53you ready come on let's go what are you gonna do first
31:00come on right go on skedaddle go and find your friends if you need me i'll be at the tea stall
31:06okay
31:14hello
31:30don't worry i'm here i'm here what do i need to do do i need do i need that really nervous
31:35about the trial but i am so glad that she's got you in her corner honestly i don't know how i'd
31:40ever repay you you're very welcome i accept card or cash yeah how about a drink right
31:58yes
32:11right quick show of faces and then we'll cut a run off i can't do these things
32:16is moving away really gonna make you feel any happier well yeah of course it is
32:26hey fresh start chain's gonna do us all good
32:30come and work for me yeah come on why not okay i we'll get settled in okay i'll get going with
32:38the business you don't have a business rob going to gigs and doing coke is not business it's you
32:44know what it's a hobby and that's fine when you're 18 my hobby okay it's paid for your life for the
32:51last decade and ed's investing now you're a joke rob you know i have a good mind to go over there
32:56and tell our friends that you haven't signed a single artist for the last year not one
33:00you've done everything are you on do you mean i really want to know who's signing
33:31frankie
33:34frankie what's happened i don't know he kind of freaked out
33:44frankie
33:50jess nothing no jess anything any sign no just keep looking keep looking
34:00frankie we checked this side let's check here again
34:14so
34:27frankie
34:43okay
35:01frankie hey he's fine you can tell me what's going on
35:05oh
35:20tell me what's wrong i think maybe i think what frankie might need is a bit of space should we
35:25should we just give everyone
35:42honey please just tell me please just tell me what happened okay just tell me
35:50oh hi frankie is your dad in i'd like a word i know he usually comes home early on a friday
36:00better to keep nappy she needs changing oh yeah go on frankie you do me okay but i need
36:05to help lifting her up oh christ all right come here that's it oh yeah see dad's not back yet
36:15where's your mum yeah it's okay love it's all right frankie
36:23frankie when's your dad getting back do you know
36:26that's
36:30come on frankie what's this
36:42now
36:54edward carisman
37:13what did you do
37:22is it true
37:25could you run i didn't all right she just fell off the island okay so
37:28and you just left her no i picked her up and you put her back in the playpen
37:35oh no this is really bad look what you did
37:37i didn't yeah you did you're making all that noise you're running upstairs and
37:44leaving why did you do that that's not what big brother's doing look no i'm sorry frank
37:50this is completely your fault all of it oh i think she's okay yeah look she's
37:58yeah she stopped crying she stopped crying yeah she stopped crying she stopped
38:07oh she's not hurt okay just listen to me she's not hurt and it was you who wanted to change her
38:16nappy yeah it was your idea to lift her out okay that's why this happened yeah it was because of
38:21you all right say it yes okay yes yeah good boy you fucking killed her no i didn't know she was
38:28hurt did i come on okay look i may be a bit of a pimp i'm not a monster i mean why are you there
38:34you're the fucking money i said it didn't matter yeah it was the fucking money jesus christ why
38:38didn't you call an ambulance yeah you let us all believe that jess would hurt our own baby
38:41frankie you know how vulnerable he is don't blame me for his behavioral problems
38:54hey hey it's okay it's okay it's okay that's well done well done i'm so proud of you okay
39:03oh it's okay
39:13hey hey let's go let's go home
39:20let's do it all right oh fuck this don't rob i can't believe i was going to leave everything
39:28behind for you for a man who is nothing but a vile self-serving body
39:37i i think we need to call the police i'll do it
39:41uh
39:48police
40:12i'm gonna put betsy on the kitchen counter and then you
40:15went upstairs to get a clean nappy is that right
40:21do you usually change betsy's nappy like that
40:26mommy used to change betsy's nappy
40:31where do you want to put that
40:32good man one more question why didn't mommy tell us that betsy got hurt when rob was in the house
40:50i didn't hurt her no you didn't hurt her she's all right luckily and anyway frankie
40:57it was your mama's fault really because she shouldn't have left you alone
41:02if anybody found out they could put her in prison i don't want her to go to prison no i don't want
41:07her to go to prison when your mom comes back you can't tell her that i was here because if you do
41:13then i'm gonna have to tell the police what you did and that you were left alone which i i mean
41:18i really don't want to do because then your mommy really will go to prison don't make me do that
41:24because if you do then do you know what's gonna happen
41:32you're gonna be left all on your own
41:42mom didn't know
41:42hi
41:52go
41:58hi hi
42:02my beautiful boy you okay honey i want you to know you did nothing wrong okay
42:13we love you to the moon and back
42:24cps have been notified all charges will be dropped it's over jess you're free to go
42:32now
42:36they'll likely go after rob for attempting to revert the course of justice possibly wasting
42:41police time there are serious charges if convicted you can be looking at two years
42:45imprisonment but you think you know someone but even if you live in each other's pockets
42:50you never really know them i'm sorry
43:02you obviously feel responsible on some level no
43:06no i don't i was betsy's doctor
43:14i stand by my decision i did the right thing
43:22i mean what if i got it wrong i was critical of jess
43:27perhaps too much i know that now
43:32in hindsight her biggest mistake was stepping out for a few minutes leaving her kids in the house
43:48frankie frankie
44:02i won't leave you okay i won't leave you okay it isn't the worst crime in the world
44:13it's difficult to explain answers of thought to someone
44:17every time i traveled to work and the fast train comes um i tell him to notice that split second
44:26when you imagine jumping in front of the train and how i lived with that second over and over
44:32for all these months in all the times i'd walk towards betsy and you know see all the ways i
44:40could hurt her but i'm getting better stronger i know i'll get there you will
44:54you've made amazing progress all of you have so much so that i'm closing your case
45:02so today marks the end of our involvement you no longer need to be under our care
45:08thank you
45:15you're a good mum and i can see how much you love your kids
45:23you're a good mum and i can see how much you love your kids
45:26every mother faces constant judgment
45:31the way we parent the choices we make the routines we cling to
45:42everyone expects us to get it right all of the time
45:45but we're human we falter we make mistakes
45:57but sometimes we get it so right and in those moments whatever you do hold on tight
46:08because in the blink of an eye it can all be taken away
46:15so
46:45you
47:01you