A middle aged woman with nothing left to give meanders through her day just like any other, or so she thought.
Honor Student is the type of film that needs little description, but introduces lots of talk – despite its lack of talk in the script. The story follows a day in the life of a middle aged woman meandering through her day like any other. She has a complete disregard for everyone around her, is in trouble with her work and eats alone in an abandoned parking lot after starting a fight with a fast food worker. It’s easy to see she’s troubled and angry but what made her this way? And what must it be like for others around her? These questions and more are explored in this gritty drama that is meant to leave the audience guessing about the HONOR STUDENT.
The pressure we put on our children for our own failed dreams.
We saw this really wretched woman who was being so belligerent to a cashier at a restaurant. We were left wondering what happened to her to get her so cynical and frustrated with life that she would be so rude to someone like that, which then lead us to think about what it would be like to be raised in a household like this and how her story would influence her child. It touches on the failed expectations of life and how we handle that. The pressure we put on our children for our own failed dreams. And in the end the violence (although off screen) whether it be emotional or physical will in the end breed more violence, as soon by the daughter. Technically I wanted to make something more along my actual filmmaking sensibilities. I challenged myself to do this without dialogue but still tell a full story that hopefully leaves you and audiences guessing long after the credits roll for who really is the Honor Student? It’s also worth mentioning that this was our warm-up film for our feature that we shot last year in Louisiana. That film, the Horror/Thriller CAMERA OBSCURA, explored a singular characters descent into madness and will be released on VOD and in select theaters this summer. I’d also mention that this quick interview goes into a lot of the above and more all about Honor Student before we played at Hill Country this past May
Aaron’s vision is an exemplary display of how a story can be evolved in silence. What remains truly captivating is how much the story grows in the background through the meshing of the scenes, distracting us with it’s almost comical mundane and unpleasant lifestyle only to reveal the true damage it can have on surrounding people. The particular pace and progression tells the story from a different angle, smartly taking our mind away from the true problem.
