Filmmaker Statement

“The sins of fathers are passed on to children, often through the dynamic of self-protection.” —Lawrence Crabb Inspired by the harrowing account of a close friend who struggled with abuse throughout his childhood, Mercy is a gritty and haunting story about a subject matter close to the homes of many. By dramatizing the cyclical nature of familial abuse and taking it to its extreme, we set out to depict the unexpected transfer of generational trauma and its effects on its victims. Our protagonist, Mikey, is a child caught up in a horrible circumstance that far too many young adolescents face. Around 700,000 children are abused annually in the US, and 90% of those children by the people close to them. Consequently, we show this world through the eyes of an impressionable child, highlighting the raw and real horror that a child can face. At its core, Mercy is about the cyclical nature of trauma, a subject matter that is very close to our hearts. This topic is so pervasive yet so disturbing that it is rarely discussed, let alone depicted in the media, which is why it was interesting for us to create a film about the subject. We hope this film lingers with audiences long past the final credit and inspires conversation that is sincerely needed.