What are some of the movies that come to mind if somebody mentions the word “siblings”? To be specific, movies with plots that hinge on the sibling dynamic instead of just having siblings in it. If you pick from the crime drama genre, there are Deewar, A Better Tomorrow, and Fiza. If you move towards the action genre, there’s Main Hoon Na, Karan Arjun, and Warrior. If you look at horror films, you’ll get Crimson Peak, Evil Dead Rise, and Nope. If fantasy is your thing, then there’s The Chronicles of Narnia franchise, the Spy Kids franchise, and Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events. If you are wondering about step siblings, then you have Cruel Intentions and Step Brothers. And if you want to go into the realm of taboo, you can try out Close My Eyes. Now, even though it may seem like the concept of siblings has been covered from every perceivable angle, that’s not the case at all because not every sibling is the same and every sibling has a new story to tell. Scrap is about one such pair of siblings. Is it any good? Let’s find out.
Vivian Kerr’s Scrap tells the story of Beth, who spends the whole day trying to get a job and sleeps in her car at night. Since she doesn’t have a home, she has dumped her daughter, Birdy, at her brother Ben’s place. Ben is a pretty famous writer whose novels are set in the fiction genre. His wife, Stacy, is a high-level attorney. They are going through a complicated time because Stacy wants to get pregnant but, due to some reason, the couple is failing to conceive a child. And having to look after Beth’s daughter in the middle of all this chaos is quite a headache for them. So, they just want Beth to keep Birdy with her and deal with her issues by herself. However, Beth keeps stacking one lie about her life on top of another until it’s too hard to be ignored. To make matters worse, Beth’s ex-husband, Joshua, enters the picture with the intention of reigniting his relationship with Beth and being a good father to Birdy. Since Beth has moved on and is interested in a guy called Marcus, Joshua’s proposition seems hollow. And yes, in addition to all that, Beth still doesn’t have a job. How long can she continue this at her brother and sister-in-law’s expense? Well, that’s what Scrap is all about.
Through Scrap, Vivian Kerr is trying to talk about the repercussions of not accepting one’s responsibility as an adult and how said repercussions increase tenfold when you have a sibling who sees you as a baby. It’s true that your family should look after you no matter what, but that notion becomes an issue when an individual sees that as an excuse to do nothing in life. Yes, kids should definitely hold their parents accountable for bringing them into this world just because they, as two consenting adults, wanted to and then shirking all responsibility as soon as the kid hits the age of 18 because that’s nonsensical. But, I don’t think a sibling can be expected to take care of their brothers or sisters all their lives just because they’ve achieved some degree of success. And, by some stroke of luck, in this economy, if one has a sibling like Ben who is ready to support them no matter what, the least they can do is be grateful for their unconditional love. Now, while that can form a basic foundation for a family drama focused on siblings, it does need something more to be impactful. Does Kerr’s writing rise beyond that very basic understanding of life? I don’t think so.
Given how Kerr has written and directed Scrap, she is in the film, and she has cast her own sister, Marion, as Beth and Ben’s mother. I am sure this is a very personal project for her. So, I don’t want to bash it too much. But, at the same time, I have to point out that the film plays it very safe. Kerr’s understanding of joblessness, domestic abuse, and poverty seem to be coming from a place of privilege. That’s not just apparent from how she has written her characters and the dialogues, but also from the cinematography, the production design, the costume design, the tone, and the pacing. The beats of desperation, panic, and problem-solving are simply repeated until they are just miraculously solved because the film is close to its end credits. There’s no sense of rock bottom. There’s no high. It’s just an endless, saccharine loop with a tacked-on message about being a parent-figure to a woman-baby, and if that sounds like your cup of tea, well, don’t stop me from letting you give the movie a chance. Also, I think most of my criticisms of the film would’ve been quashed if the filmmaking was good. I mean, the camera keeps going in and out of focus during several scenes without any purpose. That’s unacceptable.
The performances in Scrap are quite good. Lana Parrilla imbues Stacy with the right amount of seriousness and vulnerability. I think she is the most relatable character in the film. You can sense that she has done a lot to be where she is, and now she is trying to overcome a difficult hurdle, and she doesn’t want any hindrance. Everything that she says and does feels so practical and sensible that I wish the movie would’ve just been about her. Anthony Rappy portrays the heartbreaking nature of Ben really well. You can’t help but empathize with his position. He makes you understand that Ben and people like Ben don’t deserve to be in such difficult, emotionally draining situations and that sometimes you need to stop “babying” a grown-up irresponsible adult. Vivian accurately highlights the annoying nature of people like Beth and how nonchalantly arrogant they can be when they’ve nothing to be so pompous about. It’s just that if these characters had had a little more depth, I am sure the performances of its main cast would’ve been truly memorable. The supporting cast is fine. Beth Dover, Khleo Thomas, Stephanie Drake, and Brad Schmidt are amazing despite their limited screen time.
There is a scene in Scrap that pretty much underscores the film’s problem: it’s a story centered around a White woman who has been born and raised in Los Angeles of all places. And I think Vivian Kerr is aware of Beth’s privilege because she keeps introducing characters who point at the advantageous position she is in in comparison to everyone else, thereby proving that her habit of twiddling her thumbs in every situation is a choice. But the film doesn’t keep Beth in the proximity of the characters who should technically enlighten her, and keeps shifting to Ben because that makes the conversations around the character’s flaws more “comfortable.” Anyway, if you want to watch movies about unemployment and family, that’ll truly move you to your core, here are some recommendations: Pursuit of Happyness, Velaiyilla Pattathari, Pather Panchali, Apur Sansar, Mahanagar, Pratidwandi, and, to a certain extent, Parasite. At the cost of sounding repetitive, I want to make it clear that I’m sure many people will see themselves in Scrap and relate to its story and characters. Who knows? Maybe they’ll find the answers to some of the problems they’re facing in their lives. It’s just that the film didn’t resonate with me.
