Shot entirely on handheld cameras, Dirty Bad Wrong’s gritty, realistic, and authentic cinematography beautifully captures the two worlds Sid inhabits: the first, a loving, supportive, and warm home where her child comes first, and the second, a world of shadows, impossible decisions, and calculated risks. Dirty Bad Wrong screened at Fantasia International Film Festival.
Sid (Michaela Kurimsky) never breaks a promise she makes to her six-year-old child, Jesse (Jack Greig), even if that means breaking a promise she made to herself. Sid funds her life with Jesse through sex work, and money is always tight, but a while ago, she promised Jesse a superhero-themed birthday party that she is going to deliver, no matter what. One of her clients, in particular, pays well: a sophisticated, affluent young gentleman, John (Cody Ray Thompson), with a taste for the extreme. Sid once engaged in his chosen activity, but promised she would never do it again. However, when Sid leaves her bag with the cash she earned for Jesse’s birthday party on a subway train, she has no choice but to break a promise to herself to fulfil one she made to her child.
Life is never a straight road; it’s a winding path with many junctions, some leading to beautiful new vistas while others lead to thick undergrowth or a rocky precipice. Each decision leads us somewhere new and unexpected, and no decision comes without risk. For those at the bottom of the income ladder, decisions are often driven by survival, hope, and a need to protect those they love. For Sid, her whole life has been shaped by the challenging choices she has faced in bringing up her child, whom she loves more than anything.
Writer and director Erica Orofino’s powerful short film Dirty Bad Wrong asks how far you would go for those you love. There is no judgment in Orofino’s striking short story or attempt to draw simple ethical lines; instead, we have a young mum, a promise, and a decision that leaves an internal and external scar. One that not only Sid carries but also every woman John pays in a society where power sits in the hands of those able to wield their wealth to fulfil their desires, no matter how dark they may be.
Shot entirely on handheld cameras, Dirty Bad Wrong’s gritty, realistic, and authentic cinematography beautifully captures the two worlds Sid inhabits: the first, a loving, supportive, and warm home where her child comes first, and the second, a world of shadows, impossible decisions, and calculated risks.
Coupled with Michaela Kurimsky’s outstanding performance alongside a truly fantastic ensemble cast, Orofino’s short is a fascinating, compelling, and thoughtful exploration of one parent’s choices in ensuring their child thrives in our capitalist world, marked by income, gender, and power inequality. But it is also a powerful exploration of the ripples each decision we make creates, something never more apparent than when six-year-old Jesse is drawing a picture or inquisitively glancing at Sid’s visible scar. Jesse may be young, but Sid’s decisions and choices may leave a scar on them, too.
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