DOLLHOUSE

DOLLHOUSE
A FILM BY KIRSTEN SHERIDAN
2012 / Ireland / English / Drama
95 mins / RED / 2.00 / Stereo
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PR in Berlin:
Emma Robinson
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A Production from The Factory
With Lightstream Pictures
in association with Bord Scannán na hÉireann / Irish Film Board
CAST
Jeannie
Eanna
Denise
Shane
Darren
Robbie
Seana Kerslake
Johnny Ward
Kate Stanley Brennan
Shane Curry
Ciaran McCabe
Jack Reynor
KEY CREW
Writer and Director
Producer
Executive Producers
Photography
Casting
Sound Design
Production Design
Costume Design
Original Music
Kirsten Sheridan
John Wallace
John Carney
Lance Daly
Garrett Kelleher
Macdara Kelleher
Martina Niland
Colin Downey
Ross McDonnell
Maureen Hughes
Kieran Lynch
Emma Lowney
Lara Campbell
Howie B
TECH SPECS
Run Time
Shooting Format
Aspect Ratio
Production Company
Country of Production
Completion date
95 minutes
HD
2.00:1
The Factory
Ireland
2012
SYNOPSIS
Logline
A group of wild teens break into a luxurious house in an upper class suburb for a night of
partying, destruction and mayhem that will change them all forever.
Short Synopsis
Dollhouse explores a night in the life of a group of street teens from Dublin's inner city
who break into a house in an upper class suburb. The break-in quickly moves into a
night of frenzy, driven by a series of revelations that will leave lasting marks on each of
them, and resulting in an emotional conclusion that they will carry with them.
Long Synopsis
A group of street teens from Dublin’s inner city break into a posh modern glass house by
the sea in Dalkey. They start to blare music, drink, dance, have a food fight, take drugs,
role play, draw on the walls, go wild. The main character, Jeannie, seems to be slightly
apart from the group, her eyes searching for something; while it seems the others have
given up searching for anything real in their lives.
Her friends find a box, all photos of Jeannie and her family. When she comes upstairs
dressed in a red dress, it is revealed that this is the house she ran away from one year
ago. It was not a happy home. She has been living with this rag tag group of wild kids
since then. Tonight, Jeannie is a girl breaking into her own life. She is playing two
different parts, her accent slipping between the two.
There is now more tension in the air, they play games, now slipping between danger and
fun. Truth or dare – Jeannie picks truth and reveals a safe to the ‘leader’ of the gang,
Eanna. It has a combination lock. She doesn’t know the numbers. Jeannie is pushing
events to a climax, pushing herself to a climax, but she doesn’t know what the
consequences of this will be.
The doorbell rings – it is the boy from next door, Robbie, Jeannie’s ex boyfriend. At first
he is appalled to find her here after a year, and the house being wrecked. But slowly he
is drawn into their world, and starts to play the game, shifting back and forth within
himself.
The games turn more sexual as Denise, the other female character, tries to play the
boys to her advantage and to keep them from slitting each other’s throats.
The night descends into increasingly frenetic, dizzying and confusing events, driven by a
series of revelations that will leave lasting marks on each of them, and resulting in a
shocking and emotional conclusion that they will carry with them.
THE CHARACTERS
Jeannie – main character. At the start of the film Jeannie is a mess. But there is
something driving her forward, driving her to figure out the mess. She is constantly
looking for something but the problem is she doesn’t know what it is, and she is
searching, but always outside of herself. Over the course of the story she realises what
she needs is something to hold her still. And the tough reality she encounters is that the
only person who can do that is herself.
Denise –She is brittle, hard and has lived a tough life, feels older than she is. She is
rarely still, eyes always darting around, nervous. But gives as good as she gets. She
feels a strange protection towards Jeannie, almost motherly, but sometimes doesn’t
want that. There is a safety in her relationship with women, and therefore with Jeannie.
Denise is extreme - either using her sexuality with the boys to try to steer events the way
she wants them to go, or hiding away.
Eanna – appears to be the hardest nut to crack, the most dangerous one. Appears to be
the leader. Always ready to fight. We look at him and see a bleak future. And at the last
moments he should surprise us with a vulnerability, a connection, and a tiny moment of
grace because we glimpse into his past.
Darren – has too much energy: is always running, shoving, laughing too loud, pushing
things. He lives off that drama. He doesn’t necessarily learn anything in the course of the
story. He’s moving on, onto the next ride, never stopping to take stock, or to look at
himself, he uses humour as a defence against the pain of the real world.
Shane – is focussed and quiet, always watching. Still waters run deep. He has had the
hardest life of all of them all. He knows himself more than any of the others. He feels the
way the night is going to play out. He knows it has to come to a head. He is also there to
get a job done – if there is money to be had it will be him having it. He is honest about
that. And unapologetic.
Robbie – an upper class boy from a good family. Sure and steady. So although he has
all the breeding that sets him apart, he also comes from a place that has its own set of
rules, but underneath the surface, it can also be vicious. And the game is to get Robbie
to fall into that negative energy that is usually only associated with the bad kids from the
bad side of town. A part of Robbie wants to compete with the group by revealing that he
has had a painful life too. This is almost like a currency, a way to push oneself into
intense feeling, almost like self harming. But he hasn’t really experienced pain, he has
had a lucky life, and so knows he has played a part over the night, a part he now has the
luxury to step away from. Recognising this is his humility and saving grace.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
Dollhouse is a story about trying to find connection in a world that seems to be
constantly shifting. It is about a girl breaking into her own life. It is about how instinctual
physical reactions can mean more than conscious intellect or words.
In Dollhouse, all action takes place over one night and into the early morning. There is
no delving into traditional, logical backstory. There is no conversation about how anyone
feels. Everything that happens, happens in the present.
We worked from a structure that consisted of five reveals, but no traditional script. The
actors did not know what these reveals would be, instead improvising their reaction for
the first time when the cameras were rolling.
Jeannie, the main character, is the centre of her own storm. She has picked this night to
return and bring all her pent up energy to a climax. She is unconsciously pushing herself
and the other characters toward some kind of break.
The reason I wanted to make this kind of film is to explore what I see as a new world, a
lost world that teenagers seem to inhabit these days, no necessity in their lives, no
responsibility and therefore no centre to their existence
I wanted to have these characters start the story wearing masks, playing parts, and then
throughout the course of the night the plot breaks them down. The characters have no
choice but to reveal themselves and we see glimpses into their humanity and
vulnerability, which in some cases come as much of a surprise to them as to us.
I want the audience to experience, by osmosis, what the characters feel - never being
fully secure in the world of this film until the final scenes. The moment the audience feels
secure, thinking it’s one specific genre, I wanted to turn into new and unexpected
territory.
We are always moving toward a climax that everyone feels coming but no one can
define until it is revealed and released in the final scenes.
Balancing between the two contrasts of wild raw energy and then somehow finding a
meaning, a silence and a peace at the end, the visual style moves from a gritty, raw
handheld feel to a more composed still life. This film is a very physical journey toward
that held silence for our main character.
The location, the house, represents a very modern Ireland. It is not ‘old money’ or
aristocratic which gives it an odd lack of culture and substance. It is like being in a
fishbowl. Which our characters essentially are. It is also a blank slate and the characters
use the house to literally write their stories (in Darren’s case at times on the wall itself for
example).
There is also the obvious theme of the house breaking down around them, as they start
to break down. This also parallels the idea that the house itself represents money but it
is quite a hollow representation. So this group of kids don’t have the church (like others
would have in the past), they don’t have family (which is being eroded), or community
(modern online culture).
For me, this was a departure as a director. It was not be a process of shooting a
developed script in a controlled and precise way. I wanted to change my approach in
how it was realised, finding actors that were as close to the characters as possible, an
uncanny parallel in some cases. Instead of putting a camera in front of them and
insisting ‘act out these lines that are coming out of my mouth’, I have had many
meetings with each actor in order to find what it is about them and their own lives that
will be brought to the story. At the moment the actors do not know the full plot, this will
be revealed as and when it needs to be during shooting.
I don’t believe the kind of reality I am going for can be taught, or directed. It just has to
be found, and trusted. So the story should feel like a living breathing thing that changes
as we write, workshop, shoot, edit, and market it, but always with the one core running
through its centre.
CAST BIOGRAPHIES
SEANA KERSLAKE
Dollhouse marks Seana Kerslake’s first lead role in a feature film. A successful
scholarship winner at the World Championships of Performing Arts in 2009 for Drama,
Seana has performed in numerous productions from an early age as an actress, singer,
dancer and model.
Seana has just completed a role in Lance Daly’s Life’s a Breeze.
JOHNNY WARD
Johnny Ward (24) is from Dublin and has acted in a wide variety of roles for the stage
and screen. Johnny’s many screen credits include Paolo Sorentino’s This Must Be The
Place starring Sean Penn, Boy from Mercury (1996), and A Man of Few Words (2000).
Johnny has also appeared in the television drama Stardust (2006) directed by Ciaran
Donnelly and Prosperity (2007) directed by Lenny Abrahamson.
Johnny has a theatrical background and has appeared in productions such Ray Dooley
(Young Vic);Richard the III (Theatreworks); Les Miserables (Cameron Mackintosh
Productions).
SHANE CURRY
Seventeen year old Shane Curry first appeared in the feature film Kisses by
Lance Daly. The film went on to screen at Toronto, London and Telluride Film Festivals
in 2008. Shane’s most recent credits include The Last Furlong and Dollhouse.
KATE STANLEY BRENNAN
An established stage actress, Kate Stanley Brennan has played many roles including
most recently Maudie in the Arcola Theatre production of The Sanctuary Lamp and B in
the Peacock Theatre production of Terminus.
Kate was nominated as Best Supporting Actress for the Irish Times Theatre Awards for
her portrayal of St Monica in Projects Art’s production of The Last Days of Judas Iscariot
and also for her role as Jess in the Hatch Theatre Company’s production of Love and
Monday.
Her next feature, Chasing the Green, is due to be released in 2012, directed by
Kevin Connor for Hallmark.
JACK REYNOR
Jack Reynor is from Dublin and played the title role in What Richard Did, directed by
Lenny Abrahamson, due for release later this year. His credits also include
Kevin Connor’s Chasing the Green (2010) and Three Wise Women, directed by
Declan Recks (2010).
CIARAN MCCABE
Dollhouse marks Ciaran McCabe’s first screen debut. He has since worked on award
winning director Lenny Abrahamson’s feature What Richard Did and Darren Thornton’s
short film Two Hearts. Ciaran also recently appeared in Thisispopbaby’s production of
Trade.
CREW BIOGRAPHIES
Kirsten Sheridan - Writer / Director
Disco Pigs - director - 2001
In America – co-writer - 2002
August Rush - director - 2007
Dollhouse - writer & director - 2012
Kirsten Sheridan was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1976. She attended Ireland’s national film
school, graduating in 1998.
In 2000 Kirsten directed her first feature film, Disco Pigs, starring Elaine Cassidy and
Cillian Murphy, which premiered in Panorama at the Berlin Film Festival and won at
Ourense, Giffoni, the Castellinaria Youth Film Festival, and the Young European Cinema
Film Festival. Kirsten was nominated for Best New Director at the British Independent
Film Awards and the Irish Film & TV Academy Awards, and she won the United
International Pictures Best Director 2002 award.
In 2003 she co-wrote the original screenplay for In America for which she received
nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, the Online Film Critics Society
Award, the Writers Guild of America Award, and the Humanities Prize. In America won
the National Board of Review, The Christopher Award, and the Broadcast Critics Award
2004.
In 2007, Kirsten directed August Rush which stars Jonathan Rhys Meyers, , Freddie
Highmore, Terrence Howard and Robin Williams. August Rush received a Broadcast
Critics nomination and an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song.
In 2010 Kirsten formed The Factory, a filmmakers collective in Dublin, with directors
John Carney and Lance Daly. Dollhouse is the first film from the collective.
She lives in Dublin with her partner and three children.
JOHN WALLACE - Producer
John was born in Wexford, Ireland in 1980. He graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce
Degree from University College Dublin in 2000.
After graduation John started work as a assistant director on various feature films,
commercials and television productions. His assistant directing credits include One
Hundred Mornings, Eamon, Savage, Garage, Prosperity, Inside I’m Dancing, Laws of
Attraction and Intermission. During this time he also produced six short films including
the award winning Jellybaby (2005) and Runners (2009) both directed by Rob and
Ronan Burke.
In 2010 John produced the feature film Rewind directed by PJ Dillon and starring Amy
Huberman (Best Actress IFTA’s 2011) which was released in Irish cinemas in March
2011.
In 2012 John completed production on the feature documentary Apples of the Golan
directed by Keith Walsh and Jill Beardsworth.