Céline Roustan
Casey, a military brat, has just arrived at yet another new school. When her mother insists on cutting her hair before picture day, while all she wants is to get her ears pierced, it sparks a disagreement with deeper ramifications for the whole household. Writer/director and S/W alum Kelly Pike (Undercut) is back on the site with Picture Day, a coming-of-age drama that delves into the experience of a teenage army brat trying to figure out exactly who she is.
When we asked Pike about the inspiration behind Picture Day, she explained that it was born from a mix of different ideas, which stemmed from a reflection on “our collective responsibility for the subtle, everyday messages we send children about gender”. The filmmaker was particularly interested in the experience of being a twelve-year old girl, an age psychologists identify as the beginning of the “confidence gap”, when girls lose 80% of their confidence. Pike wondered “ if this dramatic shift coincides with children internalizing gendered expectations about attractiveness, fitting in, and social status”. This identity and confidence crisis is the emotional canvas of the film, and what makes it so universally relatable.
“Military families create a perfect pressure cooker for exploring identity formation” – writer/director Pike discussing setting her film on an army base
The film is also set on a military base, with the idea that Casey’s internal process of figuring out who she is is very often disrupted by frequent moves and the need to start over in different cities. This lifestyle also weighs heavily on her family, and on the overall dynamic at home. As a military brat herself, Pike shared that she “wanted to capture how this environment uniquely shapes young people’s understanding of who they are”.
For teenagers, getting what they want from their parents often comes in the form of a negotiation that leads to a deal, or an exchange – “if you do this, I’ll give you that”. This is how Pike came up with the idea of the “haircut-for-ear-piercing bargain”. Not only is this a perfect example of this type of deal, but the fact that it is about her body/physical appearance and people’s expectations (her parents and her family), perfectly reflects the complexities of becoming a woman. Like in any compelling coming-of -age narrative, Pike crafts a pivotal moment from a very mundane situation, with her protagonist at the center of a power struggle with gender, identity and expectations at its core.
Oona Mei Yaffe (L) stars as a tomboy growing up on a military base in Picture Day.
Nothing overly dramatic happens over the course of the film, instead Pike fleshes out the protagonist’s world by letting the audience spend time with her over the course of a day at school. Subtly, we get to know her and see her trying to find her own path, while living as an army brat. DP Robert Nachman (Miller and Son) immerse us in her universe by framing her in a way that allows us to see how her world affects her, while editor Luqi Zhao finds an effective pacing that makes the film engaging, unafraid to slow down to let us spend time with Casey.
To bring out the narrative’s subtle nuances, the performances had to be especially compelling. Oona Mei Yaffe, who portrays the lead, is especially impressive as her character’s emotional journey is mostly depicted without dialogue. Her raw depiction of her character’s confusionadds depth to the film, while Michelle Krusiec, who portrays her mother, is also incredible, grounding her scenes with authenticity and adding powerful layers to the story.
Following its World Premiere at the 2022 edition of the Palm Springs ShortFest, where it got an Honorable Mention in the Young Cineaste Competition, Picture Day also won the Best Live Action Short Film award at the 2023 edition of the Warsaw Film Festival making it eligible for consideration in the 2025 Academy Awards (FYC if you will). Pike is currently writing her first feature film.