- Title: Hidden In Plain Sight
- Director: Stacie Crawford
- Text type: Film
“Hidden In Plain Sight,” is a film about Katie and Danny, trying to stay hidden from Nick, who is extremely abusive. The film “Hidden In Plain Sight” surfaced tense and suspenseful emotions in me, this was due to the character Nick trying to reach his ex-girlfriend Katie and their son. Although I can not understand the emotions and fear that both Danny and Katie felt throughout the film, as I have never been in a similar situation. I can empathise with them due to domestic violence being an extremely relevant topic in the world we live in today. My prior knowledge of it gives me the opportunity to identify what emotions they may have been feeling, and what mental strain they were going through. This aspect of the film made me think about how hard it is for people in domestically violent relationships. As even though Katie changed her identity, Nick was still able to find her. It made me feel for Katie as I feel like she deserved justice for the emotional and physical torture Nick caused her. It is unfair she was always fearing for her life, as she deserves to be able to live a free life. “I left my car on a bridge, it was my first chance at freedom.” This quote is Katie talking about her own suicide. She is taking action on leaving Nick, this is showing justice as she is getting internal justice for herself. She no longer has to have her life controlled by fear of Nick. It is obvious that Nick has a different concept of justice than Katie. He feels like he deserves justice from Katie, as she hid their son from him for years. I can empathise with both parties in this situation as I feel like they both have relevant feelings about justice. I can agree with Katie that she deserves justice as it is unfair that she is forced to live in fear. But I can also see where Nick is coming from, as it should be his right to know that he has a child. So with this understanding, I feel like they both deserve justice in different types of ways. Katie and Danny were in a scary and untelling situation, with the fear of Nick coming and hurting them. I disagree with the fact that Katie did not tell Nick about their son. It is Nick’s right to know about the life that he created whether or not he is a bad or a good man. “He knows about Danny he saw a picture on my fridge.” Through Nick finding out about Danny, this is getting justice for him as he has the right to know about his son. This justice for Nick leads to him wanting revenge against Kaite. I can see where he is coming from because as Danny is Nicks son, he has the right to know about him. Throughout this film, the theme of justice can be interpreted in many different ways, depending on what character you feel the most connected to. Justice can be seen from the view of Katie. Where she thinks she deserves social justice for the way Nick took over her life, and stripped her human rights. This is due to her being taken over by fear. All she wanted more than anything was for him to no longer be on the earth, so she could feel at ease and no longer have to constantly worry about Danny. From Nick’s point of view, he believed that he deserved justice from Katie for her not telling him about their son. He felt it was only fair to take Danny back to LA and make up for all the years he lost. He wanted her actions to have an equal consequence, if he couldn’t see Danny, then now it was time she couldn’t. The point in the film at which Katie realised what Nick was capable of, and what fate she wanted for him, was when he slashed her tyre meaning she was late to pick Danny up from school. But when she got there, it was too late and Nick had already taken him. This moment when she realised that Danny was gone, it no longer became getting justice for herself but also for Danny. As the fear, he was put through, no child should have to experience. This film has shown me how easy it can be for someone in an abusive relationship to never be able to escape it, no matter how hard they try. It has also taught me that there is a conflict between legal justice and natural justice, as her killing nick is illegal, but it as what she had to do to get justice.