Punch and Judy

Short Film

2026

Amanda Barnett feels trapped by the monotony of her daily life. Determined to make a change, Amanda has decided; She's going to university. Her only obstacle is her controlling husband, Pete. Worried about his reaction to such a change, Amanda has planned a nice evening in, hoping to butter him up so that he can accept the news. However, her plans go down the drain when he pulls out Puppet-Pete. Amanda knows that whenever the little sock monster opens his mouth, it can only mean bad news. Pete has sold the car.

As Amanda tries to retain a grip on what little freedom she has left, the Petes drag her into a nightmare world of pretend, Puppet Pete's Playhouse. Here, Amanda must fight back, escape and return to the real world, a world without Pete.

The idea for Pete and his torturous puppet came about a while ago, when I wanted to write about emotional abuse and the difficulty in naming it as such, when no physical violence against you has occurred. Often this abuse presents in ways that make you feel ridiculous for being upset, and even more so when you question the behaviour aloud. These instances can feel small in the grand scheme of things and often don’t even register as abuse until looked at as a part of a wider pattern of abuse.

The story started to evolve when I looked at the current frightening rise of conservativism that aims to push women towards traditional, more “American” gender roles, with women as pliant homemakers who cater to their “hardworking” husbands’ whims, gender roles which leave women vulnerable, without connections outside of their husband’s orbit, and often no means of supporting themselves, a situation which acts as a breeding ground for abusive dynamics to take place.

With this story, I wanted to capture the feelings of unease, discomfort and fear produced by this form of abuse, but most importantly the feeling that you are being silly, the feeling that what is upsetting you is so ridiculous that you are simply exaggerating and that nothing is wrong.

Alongside writing and directing this project, I also worked as a lead producer, handling casting, paperwork, locations and crew, and as a member of the art department, assisting in set painting, and decoration.