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At one point in the new movie Portraits of Dangerous Women, young woman Ashley (Yasmin Monet Prince) is talking to gallery owner Jon (Mark Lewis Jones) about her collection of found photographs. “I just want to put them in …”, “context?” Jon ventures. “No, frames” Ashley corrects. This seemingly simple act encapsulates the work of the film, in which the mundane is given centre stage, but in a disconcertingly unfamiliar way.
Set in a strangely timeless version of England, the film centres on the lives of three “dangerous women”, although precisely how dangerous they are is debatable.
Dangerous Woman One is Steph (Jeany Spark), a primary school teacher (albeit with an almost eerie absence of any children to teach). We’re introduced to her as she drives her father, Jon, along a series of country roads – a long, chaotically filmed sequence in which her stress manifests through increasingly reckless driving. She is clearly at breaking point, although with no obvious cause.
Dangerous Women Two and Three arrive on the scene when Steph’s inattentive driving leads her to run over a dog – although it quickly becomes apparent that the dog had already been run over and killed by Dangerous Woman Two, Tina (Tara Fitzgerald). Ashley is the final member of the triumvirate, claiming to own the dog, and making the bad days of Steph, Tina and Jon much worse by loudly guilt-tripping them all.
So begins a series of events that bring the three together, eventually revealing the reasons for each woman’s isolation. Tina is initially introduced as “caretaker Tina” from the school at which Steph works, although it is a mark of her passivity that Steph fails to even recognise her at first. Her tailored outfit however, hints at her hidden past, and as the pair bond over their shared sense of inertia and their suppressed guilt over the dead dog, her character, at first fragile but closed, eventually blossoms.
Steph is all chintzy florals, assimilating into the bland Englishness of the setting. Even her dad thinks that the Laura Ashley-style wallpaper she chose for his home needs replacing. She is bewildered by Jon’s decision to rearrange his kitchen, subtly demonstrating that the world is moving on around her while she remains trapped by her own inability to take ownership over her life.
Tina operates as an instigating spark for Steph. She too is sleepwalking through life, until her unfolding friendships with Steph and Ashley awaken her, culminating in a party to celebrate her divorce in which she swaps caretakers overalls for a gold dress. That this all takes place in the incongruous setting of the school hall further cements the determinedly “small town” vibe of the film.
As the youngest member of the group, Ashley risks being a stereotype – the next generation coming to shake the others out of their slumber. But, to the film’s credit, this cliche is largely swerved, and Ashley is presented as a complex character in her own right. As with the other women, her personal difficulties are eventually revealed and she is allowed her own journey of personal growth.
The art of the everyday
The portraiture motif (in which women are framed as objects of artistic contemplation) is arguably becoming a little overused in contemporary filmmaking. But Portraits of Dangerous Women’s thesis – that the everyday, like Ashley’s found photographs and the small ups and downs of these characters’ lives, is “art” worthy of attention – is laudable and effectively communicated.
At one point Steph looks at her reflection, distorted in the kitchen toaster. This serves as an effective metaphor for the work of the film. The mundane is given centre stage, but in an oddly distorted way that makes the characters everywomen, and the location’s familiarly commonplace, while also allowing each to be ever so slightly off-kilter. The result is a tone that feels almost uncanny.
Portraits of Dangerous Women fails to fully support the idea it presents, that even apparently everyday women are “dangerous”. The short run time prevents each of the nicely drawn characters, including an array of intriguing supporting roles, from fully developing. This is a shame, as the performances and subtle character work is strong and hints at greater potential.
Portraits of Dangerous Women is gently amusing though. Steph’s purchase of an elderly cat that looks and behaves exactly like her partner Paul, only to change her mind and guiltily return it, is a highlight – comically suggesting the poor state of her relationship.
The film works as an original and heartwarming look at the phases of life we all experience, and the relationships that can hold us back or encourage us to grow. Far from dangerous, this film, like the quaint cottages inhabited by the characters, is positively cosy.
Shelley Galpin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
