Butterscotch

We live in a world where it’d be easy to end up drained from our innocence & joy. A world that makes it hard to keep to our values and follow our own path, where danger looms in the distance, where it can be hard to feel safe - physically, emotionally or financially.

I want this film to be an observation of a society that is becoming more and more chaotic, divisive and serious and where it’s hard for the individual to be at peace, to keep to their values and to connect with each other.

Throughout the film, the chaotic state of the world is contaminating the characters or threatening to.

Benny (5) and Maddie (7) are the protagonists of this story and are the purest expression of innocence and connection. They wear bright colours in a monochrome environment and have coping mechanisms in place - which include leaving the house in the night when their parents, Adam and Lizzie, argue, and having a butterscotch sweet at the ready to bring comfort.

There’s a sense of helplessness in the film - in front of a society and a world that make decisions that we don’t agree on and that are detrimental.
There’s also powerlessness due to an inability to connect with each other, even as a family. Adam, the dad, is a symbol of this while being the only adult character who hasn’t been robbed of his values and spirit and manages to intermittently enter the world of the children.

But feeling unable to make things better and safe for them, Adam got into the habit of giving Benny and Maddie a butterscotch sweet, symbol of reassurance, safety and sweet innocence.

At the end of the film, when Adam and the children sing a nursery rhyme together, there’s a spark of playfulness and ease that sips into the adult world as well. However, it does not last long as a bomb explodes, apocalyptically, in front of their eyes.

It is meaningful that as the explosion happens, the characters do not react and watch it, unfazed. It shows how much we adapt, as humans, to certain situations, even terrible ones. It also shows the likelihood of this violent and serious world taking away the innocence and ideals of the children.

It’s an open ending but for those of us who see the glass half-full, there is hope that Adam will manage to lead his children so they get to follow their hearts and ideals.