In The Bag

Description

ZARA, a 16 year old school girl, is in the middle of her Maths GCSE exam. She’s stressed and panicking; the exam paper swims in front of her eyes. She makes a dash for the door and vomits violently. At home in her bedroom, she stands in front of her wardrobe, in a cold sweat, trembling with fear. We understand there’s something deeper than exam nerves troubling Zara. Her mother GLORIA, a nurse, arrives in a flurry of concern about the flunked exam. But Zara doesn’t want to engage with Gloria, whose exam obsession blinds her to her daughter’s distress. Zara’s attention constantly wanders to the wardrobe. Finally left on her own Zara collapses by the wardrobe. What’s inside obviously fills her with horror. Later, a scared looking Zara leaves her house, with a bulging canvas bag slung over her shoulder.At a shopping mall Zara leaves her bag by a bench, walking away, but she returns, dazed, to pick it up. What has she just bottled? With the bag , Zara goes to a hidden teenage hang out by a deserted canal. She sits and stares at the bag. It moves, as if something alive is inside. There’s a tiny, mewling cry. Slowly, Zara opens the bag revealing the mottled face of a new-born baby. The baby’s cries grow and it stretches out its arms. Zara fearfully cradles the baby to stop the noise. As it quiets a determination comes over her. She puts the baby back in the bag and hides it in bushes by the canal. As she\'s leaving, her friend KIERA arrives, ready to gossip about Zara’s dramatic exam exit. Despite her frothy teenage image, Kiera has a serenity to her. Staring into Zara’s eyes she can feel her turmoil. Kiera sits with Zara, waiting for her to talk. Zara looks at her friend, hoping she has the answer to her predicament. She tells Kiera there’s something terrible in the bag and runs. That night Zara follows the search for the baby’s mother on social media. Gloria turns off the TV news, suppressing fears that Zara is the mother. Kiera messages Zara to meet her, threatening to reveal her secret. Kiera pushes Zara towards a police station, but Zara runs away. Exhausted, she arrives outside the hospital by a pile of toys and balloons left for the baby. Kiera emerges from the shadows, takes Zara’s hand and guides her towards the gifts. As Zara picks up a teddy bear lying by a flickering candle Kiera disappears. Was she only ever there in spirit? Zara enters the hospital, hoodie covering her face. Seen on CCTV, the teddy bear lies propped against the doors to the neo-natal ward. As she passes the CCTV camera, Zara looks up, throwing back her hood to reveal her face.

Biblical Connection

The inspiration for the film comes from Biblical descriptions of the Holy Spirit helping us during troubled times. In Psalm 56:8 David, in prison, recites “You keep track of all my sorrows…”. The film’s focus is Zara’s internal dilemma. Like David, Zara is frightened, lonely and struggling with a terrible situation. She’s a teenager who’s imprisoned herself by hiding her pregnancy and has no idea how to deal with the situation. Her source of comfort is her friend, Kiera, who is a personification of God the Holy Spirit as John describes (3.8) “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes”. Zara struggles with Kiera as she tries to understand how to act. Finally, Kiera guides Zara towards a chance to claim her baby, showing the power of the Holy Spirit, reflected in David’s line in Psalm 56 “For you have delivered me from death and my feet from stumbling. I also saw parallels with Moses and the women who saved him in Exodus. God guided those women as he ultimately guides Zara.