Noomi Yates has created a gut-punching, devastating 9-minute short with her film Only Yourself to Blame. A film that really just has you sitting in stunned silence.
A girl (Severine Simone) walking home late at night finds herself being followed by a frightening figure that copies her every movement.
Goodness, what a film. Noomi Yates puts us through the emotional ringer with Only Yourself to Blame. Yates places us directly into the all too well-known fear women have of walking home (or anywhere) at night alone. Immediately we sense Mai’s fears, not only for her friend, who she is leaving in the hands of a man to drive her home but also for herself. Her mind is running and running away with multiple scenarios in her head as she tries to figure out which is safer, walking past three young men drinking on a quiet street or going down the secluded tunnels and bridges.
She opts for the latter, and then Yates’s script’s cleverness kicks in fully. Women go through such thoughts daily, even in broad daylight; their senses are always on alert for actions or words from anyone around them. It is a sad thing to know, yet it is the truth. Yates amplifies all of those fears when it is revealed that Mai is still reeling from rape and tragically is blaming herself for it instead of the perpetrators.
As this mysterious figure follows her, it doesn’t take long for the audience to gather what is going on; Mai is wrapped up in her own fears and PTSD from her rape that she cannot feel safe. Early on, her friend comments that Mai put no effort into dressing up for the night. It’s an off-the-cuff remark that only when the reveal happens hits you like a hammer. Of course, she wouldn’t dress up; she thinks that is what helped cause the attack.
Only Yourself to Blame puts all those fears that women have and thoughts that many will surely have after such an attack into complete focus. Yates does not let Mai or the audience escape what her character is going through. How that demon on her shoulder is still making her blame herself for what happened. As we cut back between the interactions with this mysterious figure and the imagery of the moments after the attack, we get more and more rocked for Mai.
What can be said for Severine Simone other than applaud that performance? You feel she has poured everything into it; the fearful looks come across as real as can be. As her character’s journey home gets worse and worse, and you think she has maybe at least made a step forward in rehabilitating her mind, or at least a step into not blaming herself, the voices and her fears come sprinting back like a cold bucket of water being dowsed over you. Mai’s journey will be a very long one and one that may never find a comfortable ending, and that is the reality for far too many women.
It’s, at times, mentally exhausting and brutal even for a 9-minute film; however, it absolutely needs to be. Only Yourself to Blame is important. It needs to be seen.
★★★★★
The Fantasia International Film Festival takes place in Montreal from July 20th through August 9th.
For more of our coverage of Fantasia 2023, please see below:
Se dit d’un cerf qui quitte son bois (Short)
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