Isa comes from low socioeconomic status and grew up with no mother figure and a younger sister. When she was 16 years old, she got pregnant and had her son without the father's help. She was kicked out of her house because her dad did not want Isa's sister to grow up with a bad example; therefore, she has had to maintain jobs and live on her own the moment she turned 18. She raised Leo, the son, for five years until he got kidnapped and was presumed dead. My short film takes place one year after his disappearance. At just 22 years old Isa has multiple undiagnosed mental problems such as schizophrenia and depression. Due to her low income, she barely has enough to pay for her necessities, let alone go to a doctor for her untreated trauma.
According to a study by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, " Exposure to death of a first-degree relative before 18 years of age was associated with an increased risk of schizophrenia in later life, regardless of relationship to the deceased, age and sex of the child. These findings suggest that bereaved children could be considered as a “high-risk” group of developing schizophrenia, particularly those of parents with mental health problems, and public health program is needed to provide health and social support for the bereaved children. " Although public health plans may have helped her, Isa's low education and income limited the amount of help she received. As a result, throughout the film she will experience hallucinations in which she believes she is kidnapping a child until she goes to the police and realizes she was imagining the whole thing. This schizophrenic disorder developed by Isa is her manifestation of the depressive stage of grief. Although her son's body has not been found, she has lost hope that he is still out there.
The reason behind her hallucinations being related to how her son went missing is due to the guilt that she feels for what happened to Leo. His kidnapping took place while she left him alone at home while she went to work for the day. Knowing this could have been avoidable, Isa was not only heartbroken that her son was missing, but was also overcome by culpability for what happened to him. This was the reason for her breaking point, ultimately triggering her early age schizophrenia. The end of the film will reveal that when she calls the cops to inform them that she has kidnapped a kid, the police officer shrugs it off, knowing that Isa is schizophrenic. This is also a manifestation of what she wishes the kidnapper would have done with Leo, instead of keeping him unknown. The way the officer reacts to Isa's call by shrugging it off and hanging up the phone is a social criticism as to how society treats the mentally ill, especially in the lower class (more on that in another blog). This idea that nobody is looking out for her is another trigger point for Isa.
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