When Isolation is a traumatic experience

Lockdown has created a horrific environment for thousands of children and families across the world as they are forced to stay at home with their abusers.

As many people deal with isolation and social distancing, it’s hard to understand the horror of being locked in with your abuser. This PSA for charities Mother’s Aid and Live Without Violence from Bacon directors Emilie Thalund and Christina Amundsen, is a powerful and sobering reminder of the terror and pain that is occurring in houses just like ours. 

Without ever showing any adults, Isolation instead shows children at home, sitting in soft, domestic scenes, looking out of the window, walking down a hallway, peeking through a crack in the door. The video, made in collaboration with directors and photographers in isolation across Denmark, is a collage of cracks in the system. 

Beautiful and tragic, the final result is a compelling reminder that even at home there are resources to help children and families trapped in abusive situations. The voice-overs are haunting and dissociative, making the mundane clips of a home at rest feel sinister. The endings, which are just images of houses, apartments, and doors, seen from outside, is eerie and frightening, a reminder that just because we might be safe at home does not mean that home is safe for everyone.