Bitch

Jill, a mother of four, has been playing the role of the perfect housewife for years. Until one day, when this introverted woman with suicidal tendencies goes through a Kafkaesque transformation from obliging wife and mother into a crazy bitch-not metaphorically, but rather literally. In a psychotic rage, naked, and with a look of madness about her, she runs around barking like a dog. Her cheating but "loving" husband does not want to have her hospitalized. For the safety of the rest of the family, he locks his barking wife in the basement. The director based her screenplay on a real case described in Scottish newspapers, and she herself boldly plays the role of the eponymous bitch. Despite appearances, Marianna Palka's dark comedy is not just a critique of the family written by an exasperated woman. On the contrary, one could say that it is, in a perverse way, a pro-family film. It also opens up interesting areas for interpretation: is it possible-and if so, how?-to get along with someone who thinks they are a dog? And just what is the foundation of the family?