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Clip description
Esther Blueburger (Danielle Catanzariti) is wandering the streets alone at night, very upset about a motorbike accident involving Sunni’s mother, Mary. She returns home after midnight. As she comes in the front door of the family home she is confronted by her mother, Grace Blueburger (Essie Davis). Grace has been worried sick by Esther’s absence. Driven by her mother’s anger, the pressure of bottled-up secrets and her emotional pain, Esther blurts out some of the details of her double life. Grace is so surprised that she suspects her daughter is taking drugs. There is a physical struggle between them and she slaps Esther across the face. ‘Even a dead stripper would be a better mother than you,’ Esther yells at her mother.
Curator’s notes
This is a dam burst of a scene. It is confrontational but the outburst of honesty also signals that there is a breakthrough ahead in the relationship between Esther and her mother. Throughout the film Catanzariti has brought great sincerity and energy to her role as a teenage girl on the edge of discovering what it is to be a participant in the world of adults. Her acting in this scene leaves no doubt that she is going to mature into a fine dramatic actor.
