Background

Stonewater commissioned Cavendish to produce an emotive, hard-hitting film to set the tone for their Colleague Day in October. The film aimed to highlight recent and emerging societal themes, demonstrating how people across England, from different demographics, were feeling the pinch, affecting all areas of their daily lives.

The Concept

The concept revolved around the message: “As food and fuel costs rise, the poorest are hit the hardest. But make no mistake, this affects all walks of life.” The film aimed to open viewers’ eyes to stories that hit hard and close to home, ensuring the severity of the challenges faced as a nation were understood and brought to light. It brought the audience into people’s lives, showing the devastating impact of rising costs through raw, real, resonating storytelling and emotive, relevant audio.

Storyline

The film depicted the emotional story of a family struggling with the cost of living crisis. It focused on each member of the family, including their dog, and how their lives were affected individually and as a whole.

• Mother: A nurse for the NHS, struggling with the balance of a high-pressure job and low wage.

• Father: Unemployed, trying his hand at home repairs as the family struggled to find spare cash.

• Children: Suffering the consequences of limited money, wearing smaller, sometimes dirty clothes to school, and enduring the cold environment of a non-heated home.

• Dog: Providing joy to the family in desperate times, cuddling up to the children as a warm presence, being a (fun) nuisance while the father repaired appliances, and being a comforting, lovable companion to the mother when she was not working.

• Subtle Breaking Points: News reports on the TV/Radio, arguments between the mother and father, thermometers being turned down/off.

• Crossing Paths with Other Characters: Cleverly incorporated into the narrative alongside news reports on the TV/Radio. For example, a scene showing the children getting ready for school with the TV on in the background. As they left for school, the TV volume ramped up, using it as background dialogue. The children walked past a bus, and as the news story read out “elderly woman stays on a bus to keep warm,” the focus shifted to an elderly woman on the bus, showing her with a flask of tea and a book or newspaper.

• Washing Machine Ideology: The film started with the washing machine in use, showing the young family eating a spread of healthy breakfast before leaving to go about their day. At the end of the film, the same scenario was reversed, showing how one packet of cereal was shared between the whole family. It ended on a broken washing machine with the father attempting to fix it, leading to an emotional scene of the children saying goodbye to the dog and the mother walking out of the family home with it for the last time. The final shot was of the dog looking sad in the boot of the moving car.