The Quiet room

A seven-year-old girl’s perception of adulthood is portrayed through the marriage breakdown of her parents. Withdrawing into silence as a protest and protection against her parents’ constant fighting, the nameless girl reveals her thoughts through an internal monologue which mixes childishness and vulnerability with emotional sophistication and strength. Her only refuge is her blue-walled room, an exaggerated fantasyland of goldfish, Barbie dolls and toys, where she can remember happier days. de Heer’s acute insights into the young girl’s mentality and speech patterns through his innovative use of sound and silence is combined with a highly stylised mise-en-scene, to convey the hermetic insularity of her childhood world. Like ‘Bad Boy Bubby’, ‘The Quiet Room’ explores the dysfunctional behaviour of parents and the lasting effect it has on their children. Cast includes: Celine O’Leary, Paul Blackwell, Chole Ferguson and Phoebe Ferguson.