It Must be Done

It Must be Done is a strange, arresting – but tonally unruly – horror short from writer-director Heather Bayles. The setup involves a woman, who is clearly being abused by her husband, attempting to maintain a genial appearance in front of her two children and orthodox Christian mother. Immediately, we’re in tricky territory. Despite its issues though, this is an impactful piece which is quite well-constructed.

There’s a certain level of aggression through which this story is being told that will inevitably turn off some audience members. Whilst it’s a given that any work with a principal interest in domestic abuse as theme will be a tough sell, this one becomes especially hard to swallow due to its heightened tone and performances. And by the end, one can’t help but be left with the nagging question: Is this film exploiting its subject-matter for cheap thrills; or are the filmmakers using the horror genre to tell a deeper story? This critic’s conclusion is that it lands somewhere in between...

By mixing such cartoonish genre-based violence with more realistic content and potentially triggering depictions and suggestions, the atmosphere ends up feeling unpleasant and at odds with itself in terms of what it wishes to say. However, by shining a light on a tragically common aggression; and then morphing that into the form of a revenge-thriller; you could argue that the film is utilising cinema’s most important and inherently potent genre (horror) to effectively explore disturbing issues. I should also mention that there’s something backwards – or, perhaps, thematically overwhelming – about attempting to integrate some kind of religious commentary into this narrative. You can clearly see the positive intentions (many great horror movies focus on the results of extreme religious convictions); but it almost overshadows what this story should really be about – abuse.

As with any work, it will all come down to the individual spectator and their discretion. The problem is, no-matter how you look at it, is that for this to come across as prescient and probing – instead of icky and bizarre – a slightly steadier hand and more considered technical approach would be beneficial. That’s not to suggest that this film falls short significantly in any department. Every aspect maintains a minimum level of watchability. When it comes to how the story is being told through the camera and editing, there remains a clear sense of authorial purpose, which should be recognised. There is no particular problem inherent to any of the compositions and sequencing in this movie, but rather a more general aesthetic that slightly lacks polish and clarity of technique.

Nevertheless, this is a well-directed short film. The way in which the subject-matter is tackled risks polarising many viewers – yet we should still admire the valiant attempt to tell a confrontational story such as this; especially within the contexts of small-scale independent filmmaking. I would be most interested to see the evolution of this filmmaker’s career as all the elements seem to be present – the passion for genre and the willingness to go to these dark places as an artist.