Hush flashback scene analysis

The scene shows Maddie being beaten by 'The Man' who is not named through the whole film. After watching the film I can give the background knowledge that throughout the two characters have struggled for dominance as Maddie has struggled to survive and escape her attacker. The setting of the scene is Middies’ front room, with very low lighting as the power has been cut off; the only light comes in waves from the disconnected fire alarm she used to distract her attacker. What makes this scene unique in my opinion is the sound, because Maddie is deaf and mute the film has been adapted to her point of view through most shots, this means that most of the film is silent, putting the audience is Middies’ shoes, which provokes fear and suspense as Maddie is in allot of danger. As Maddie tries to escape the man grabs her by her hair and throws her to the ground, this is shown in two fast-paced shots the second showing the man’s face as he carry's this out. The man then starts to kick Maddie in the stomach; in this intense and violent shot sequence, we see a shot reverse shot between the man and Maddie on the floor. The man then lowers to Middies’ level and straddles and begins to strangle her. We are then shown a shot from the man’s point of view as Maddie bites his arm in defence. A canted high angle then quickly shows both characters on the floor, this is followed by a point of view shot from Middies’ point of view of the man hitting her, this then returns back to the canted high angle and then again to Middies’ point of view. This fast-paced editing and repetition of the same shot builds up suspense and fear as it shows the audience how quickly the situation has escalated. The camera then draws attention to where Maddie is reaching in her struggle, a corkscrew laying on the floor. In desperation Maddie reaches to a wound she inflicted on the man earlier in the film, this has no effect and he continues to strangle her and starts to aggressively bang her head against the floor. Non-diegetic sound of Middies’ heart beating is then reintroduced, as the heartbeat begins to slow pictures begin to appear for just a second on the screen, between these millisecond snapshots of pictures of Middies’ childhood (her life flashing before her eyes) we are also shown point of view shots of both Maddie and the man, looking both up and down at each other until finally, Middies’ heart beat slows. It is at this point that as Maddie is on the verge of losing consciousness, she manages to grab the corkscrew that we saw in the opening of the film and stab the man in the throat, finally killing him. We are then shown a bird's eye view shot of the two character collapsed on the floor in similar outstretched positions, ending the scene.