SHEEP

Description

'SHEEP' is a film about a man who feels he has lost everything - the relationships he cherished, the future he'd envisaged, his sense of identity and purpose.

Liam and Jade were a couple in love, preparing to welcome their first child. But when Jade gave birth, it was instantly clear that Liam was not the child's father. This revelation hit him hard. And he hit back - at Jade - violently. Fuelled by anger, guilt and loneliness, his life spiralled into self-destruction.

Years later, while Jade has built a family, Liam is still lost. He obsesses over a past that's moved on without him. Drunk and desperate, he sets out for revenge.

After breaking into Jade's home, he makes his way upstairs. Jade and her husband lie fast asleep, oblivious to the imminent, lurking danger.

But at this critical moment, Liam suddenly finds himself face to face with the child he once cradled as a newborn. The infant's innocence and warmth awakens his sense of compassion - a tiny outstretched hand leads him away. He hesitantly opens a storybook and reads the child to sleep, before peacefully leaving the house, finally ready to let go of the past.

Biblical Connection

'SHEEP' is inspired by the Parable of the Lost Sheep (Luke 15:3-7 and Matthew 18:12-14). We can interpret Liam as the lost sheep himself; cut off from his 'flock' and struggling to rediscover his identity and direction in life. The parable emphasises the value and importance that should be attached to the moment a 'sinner repents'. Liam's 'sin' is most obviously the violence he inflicts upon Jade. Despite the passing of time, he continues to seek revenge (a 'sinful' path). In the end it takes a surprise encounter with the young child to 'shepherd' him towards a more compassionate, 'repentant' path. One of the lessons here, as in the parable, is that we should never give up on those who disappoint us. The film, just as the pitch video, will contain short sequences that depict a lone sheep wandering through the empty city streets at night. These will be knitted into the fabric of the story as a subjective, symbolic depiction of Liam's situation and state of mind. And also serve as a further visual connection with the Biblical parable upon which the film draws.