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Alex (Elena Mandalis) has just seen that Vicki (Dora Kaskanis) is being sexually abused by her own father (George Harlem). She runs to the home of her English teacher, but leaves when a man – another teacher – answers the door. In class the next day, a dazed Vicki hacks into her hair with a blade. When Alex tries to intervene, she holds the blade to Alex’s throat, before walking out. Alex runs to the office of Kate, the English teacher (Maud Davey), who fails to realise how serious the situation is.
Curator’s notes
Only the Brave is partly about the moment when childhood ends – and of how abrupt and dangerous that point can be. That may be what is intended by the title – only the brave can continue past this point. Teenage drama is often presented as a series of storms in teacups; this film treats the lives of its characters with deadly seriousness and gravity. Both Alex and Vicki have reasons to act up; both keep those reasons secret, but when Alex finds out about Vicki’s secret, the eruption of guilt and shame has horrendous consequences. The English teacher realises only too late that she has missed the signs of a genuine cry for help. She thought it was just another teenage drama.
