Life can be a struggle, especially when multiple facets of it are at a low point. It’s easy to spiral down to where it feels like you can barely keep your head above water. That struggle to survive is the main theme of writer/director/star Vivian Kerr’s outstanding indie film Scrap. Kerr plays Beth, who we see down and out right off the bat, living in her messy car. A jogger passing by even stops to ask if Beth is okay.
Beth has lost her job, but she tries to keep up the facade that she’s still working while her brother Ben (Anthony Rapp) and his wife Stacy (Lana Parrilla) care for Beth’s young daughter Birdy (Julianna Layne). Ben and Stacy have a major issue of their own to deal with. Stacy is taking injections in order to try to conceive their first child. Beth also has a problematic ex named Joshua (Brad Schmidt), who abandoned his family but has a sudden interest in meeting his daughter.
Scrap is so good at showing the small day-to-day moments that compound on one another, such as when Beth is on a rejection call with a job while a stranger on the street is angrily pounding on her car window because he wants her out of his neighborhood due to believing that she is homeless or a prostitute. This film feels realistic, which makes sense since Vivian Kerr issued a statement about going through a similar time in her real life back in 2016. This is something that many others and I can relate to, especially in this time period of inflation and the rise of homelessness. I haven’t had to live in my car, but we’ve all been through down times where it seems like nothing can go right.
“…Beth has lost her job, but she tries to keep up the facade that she’s still working…”
Beth just wants a better life for herself and Birdy, and she needs the help of her brother, which you can feel from Kerr’s performance is an imposition that weighs on her character. Anthony Rapp is also excellent at emoting his own stressful struggle of wanting to help out his sister and niece, while having issues with his wife because she feels like he is being used.
The brother and sister dynamic between Beth and Ben is on point, because they can tease each other, and can easily get on each other’s nerves while simultaneously having a deep family love. The performances and the authenticity made a simple premise such a compelling movie to me. It’s almost like watching a documentary and rooting for the protagonist to climb out of the hole that they’ve been dug into.
Beth meets a nice guy named Marcus (Khleo Thomas) who accidentally runs into Ben at a skating rink. They have cute interactions together despite Beth being so distracted by her mess of a life. This film may sound depressing, but it does have a bright side, and the difficult times are more fascinating and cathartic than something truly deep within the dark rabbit hole, such as Requiem for a Dream.
The fact that this movie is Vivian Kerr’s directorial debut is truly outstanding. I highly enjoyed her follow-up feature film Séance, but Scrap got me in the feels with its strong message of hanging in there even when life hits you in the gut.
"…a strong message of hanging in there even when life hits you in the gut"
