The Silent Child is a 2017 British short film (20 minutes long) written by and starring Rachel Shenton and directed by her husband Chris Overton.
Libby (Maisie Sly) is a deaf six-year-old child. She lives a solitary existence, not really interacting with her neglectful parents or her older brother and sister, none of whom have learned sign language. Libby's self-absorbed mother Sue hires Joanne (Rachel Shenton), a social worker who educates deaf children. Joanne teaches Libby British Sign Language (BSL), and Libby starts to come out of her shell. Unfortunately, however, a jealous Sue starts to see Joanne as a threat.
Tropes:
- Alone in a Crowd: Libby at the end of the movie, alone at recess, standing against a wall while children she can't communicate with play.
- And Introducing: Maisie Sly, a child who is deaf in Real Life, receives this credit.
- Blatant Lies: Sue tells Joanne that there's no family history of deafness, which ends up being untrue when it's revealed that Libby is the product of an affair with a man whose father is deaf. She also tells her that Libby is great at lip-reading, and that she is shy and isolated, only for Joanne to learn that none of these things are true; Sue just has no idea what Libby is really like.
- Downer Ending: Libby's awful mother ends her sign-language lessons and sends Libby to a normal school where she is completely lost and friendless. The film ends with a crying Joanne on the other side of the school gate, watching Libby through the bars.
- Green-Eyed Monster: It's clear that the reason Sue eventually fires Joanne is that Sue is jealous of the bond Joanne is forming with Libby; she even yells to Paul that Joanne is "taking Libby away from her."
- Hard-Work Montage: Around the middle of the film is a montage showing Joanne working with Libby and teaching her to communicate via BSL.
- Hope Spot: As Libby shows incredible progress, Joanne proposes a number of ideas for Libby's healthy development to Sue, and even volunteers to be her aide and interpreter due to their close bond. Unfortunately, Sue stubbornly sticks to her own plans for Libby.
- Innocently Insensitive: Paul's mother innocently asks if Libby will ever be able to have a job, then belatedly remembers that her (real) grandfather was deaf, and could only find work as a cleaner. Joanne, clearly taken aback by her lack of awareness of opportunities for deaf people, explains that Libby can get whatever job she'd like. Not only is it illustrative of the generational differences in understanding, but it's clear that neither Sue nor Paul is giving her much reason to hope for Libby.
- It's All About Me: Sue lets her busy schedule completely run her life and makes no time for Libby. When she reveals that nobody in the family was aware Libby was deaf until she was nearly four years old, Joanne assures her that it's a normal experience, only for it to become increasingly clear that it was simply because nobody was paying attention to her. Sue even claims that nobody in the family could ever have time to learn BSL (despite the schedules she rattles off hardly leaving them booked solid), yet her children actually show interest and pride in Libby's BSL. Eventually, it's made clear that Sue is pigheadedly convinced that lip-reading is the only way for Libby to succeed, and she dumps Joanne as a caretaker, even though it's clear Joanne is the only one who has any idea how to introduce Libby to any sort of proper development.
- Parental Neglect: Neither of Libby's parents devote much time to their youngest child, instead just parking her in front of the TV all day. Neither of them seem to care enough to learn sign language themselves. Not only is Sue gone most of the time, she has a habit of shouting goodbye to Libby from across the room, goodbyes that Libby of course can't hear.
- Parents as People: Played with. Libby's parents are neglectful of Libby's emotional needs. Sue isn't for lack of trying though and her way of thinking has a lot to do with societal expectations of normalcy.
- Pet the Dog: Libby's normally aloof elder half-brother is the first to notice when Libby is communicating with the family in sign language and he's quite happy for her. Her sister also seems impressed with Joanne's progress, which just serves to make Sue jealous.
- P.O.V. Cam: One shot from Libby's perspective shows how she can't communicate with her family — we see her parents and siblings chatting away animatedly, but we can't hear anything.
- The Reveal: Libby is the product of an affair.
- The Unfavorite: Poor Libby. She's left alone all day with nothing to do but watch television. It's clear her parents know nothing about her — for instance, Sue hasn't taken her to the nearby park in years, thinking Libby would be uninterested, only for Libby to be thrilled when Joanne takes her — and focus all their time on their other two hearing children. They also discourage the use of BSL and won't even entertain the idea of learning some basic signs. Only Joanne bothers to give Libby the actual experience of the joys of childhood. (To their credit, Libby's siblings do seem to care about her.)
