Paris/Sexy (2010)

• 66%
• 2010
• Drama
• Ruth Paxton
• Kim Chapman
• Martin Compston
• Finbar Furey

Greer is a girl on the cusp of womanhood. Like some curious fabled creature she lives in a remote, rundown woodland farmhouse with her Dad, Ivan, a former gamekeeper whose mind has been ravaged by chronic mental illness. Father and daughter are suspected and ostracized by the nearby village. Greer spends her working days tending to elderly, failing residents of the local care-home and the rest of her time looking after her dad. But despite her loving devotion to Ivan, Greer imagines life beyond the narrow confines of her own and is troubled by the heavy burden she bears. Greer romanticises about a life lived in colour. The impossibly glamorous Francoise and Seamus crash into the care-home to visit his mother. Greer is entranced. They seem to epitomize everything she's dreamt of: beauty, success, sophistication and access to the world in all its glory. She attaches herself to them, flattered by their awareness of her and enraptured by the atmosphere of decadence they inhabit. But Greer's reality cannot withstand the magical intrusion of her new companions. Not enchanted but threatened, the village keeps them at a distance. Their visit to Greer's home provokes a much darker and more visceral reaction. This ravishingly visual short takes the audience on a beautiful journey to its dark heart with compelling performances by Kim Chapman, Finbar Furey, Elisa Lasowski and Martin Compston. Ruth Paxton has written and directed a captivating tragedy where virtue is not rewarded and dreams don't come true.